FIGURE 167 in Alternative facts: a reconsideration of putatively natural interspecific hybrid specimens in the genus Heliconius (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

FIGURE 167. Hybrid #158 (dorsal, ventral). Mexico: Oaxaca, Sierra Juarez, Chiltepec [San Juan Quiotepec?], 1970, leg. A. Díaz Francés (UNAM). Originally hypothesized to be an aberrant H. erato by de la Maza (1991), Mallet et al. (2007) interpreted this specimen as an H. erato petiverana (Fig. 168) H. charithonia vasquezae (fig. 169) F1 or backcross to H. erato. Based on wing shape (particularly the acute apex of the HW), the specimen is clearly not an H. erato, and there is little else to suggest that it has any genetic contribution from that species. It appears to be an aberrant H. charithonia. Note also the absence of basal red spots on the HWV, which are present in both putative parentsperhaps indicative of developmental anomalies. A recently posted image (Fig. 170) shows a H. sara with a genetically modified (knockout) WntA gene, whose phenotype exhibits the loss of a large area of black pigment on the forewing. This suggests that the enlarged yellow forewing patch (or absence of black pigment) of the above hybrid could be the result of a mutation.