Belongs within: Nymphalidae.
Contains: Argynnis, Heliconius, Acraeini.
The Heliconiinae are a clade of butterflies including such taxa as the passion-vine butterflies (Heliconiini) and fritillaries (Argynnis). Larvae feed on plants of the Passifloraceae, Violaceae and Salicaceae. Species feeding on Passifloraceae sequester toxins from their hosts (Braby 2000b).
Synapomorphies (from Freitas & Brown 2004): Egg yellow; last instar larva with dorsal scoli absent from segment 1A to 7A, no additional dorsal scolus on 8A, median scoli on 2T and 3T shifted to anterior portion of segment, additional scolus present on 9A dorsal to filiform setae, filiform setae from 3A to 8A inserted on the base of the scolus or above it; adult with cyanogenic present; ratio between abdomen and total body length between 0.5 and 0.7.
<==Heliconiinae [Argynninae, Heliconidae]
|--PardopsidiniWWN03
`--HeliconiiniWWN03
|--+--ArgynnisWWN03
| `--ClossianaWWN03
| |--C. freijaI92
| | |--C. f. freijaI92
| | `--C. f. asahidakeana (Matsumura 1926)I92
| `--C. seleneWWN03
`--+--Vagrans Hemming 1934WWN03, B00
| `--V. egista (Cramer 1780)B00
| |--V. e. egistaB00
| |--V. e. propinqua (Miskin 1884) [incl. V. egista offaka (Fruhstorfer 1904)]B00
| `--V. e. vitiensisPP02
`--+--HeliconiusWWN03
`--+--Vindula Hemming 1934WWN03, B00
| `--V. arsinoe (Cramer 1777)B00
| |--V. a. arsinoeB00
| |--V. a. ada (Butler 1874)B00
| `--V. a. erotellaS72
`--AcraeiniWWN03
Heliconiinae incertae sedis:
ColaenisFS54
|--C. julia (Fabricius 1775)FS54 [incl. C. iulia iulia f. titio Stichel 1907S55]
`--C. phaetusa (Linnaeus 1758)S55
DioneFS54
|--D. juno (Cramer 1779)S55
| |--D. j. junoFS54
| `--D. j. huascama (Reakirt 1866)FS54
`--D. vanillae (Linnaeus 1758)S55
AlgiachroaJ03
Cupha Billberg 1820B00
`--C. prosope (Fabricius 1775)B00
|--C. p. prosopeB00
`--C. p. turneriB00
Cirrochroa reginaJ03, S72
|--C. r. reginaS72
`--C. r. sopheneS72
AlgiaJ03
Dryas juliaV09
|--D. j. juliaV09
`--D. j. delilaV09
Cethosia Fabricius 1807B00
|--C. cydippe (Linnaeus 1767)B00
| |--C. c. cydippeB00 [=C. chrysippe cydippeS72]
| `--C. c. chrysippe (Fabricius 1775)B00
|--C. junoG20
`--C. penthesilea (Cramer 1777)B00
|--C. p. penthesileaB00
`--C. p. paksha Fruhstorfer 1903B00
Phalanta Horsfield 1829B00
|--P. alcippeS72
| |--P. a. alcippeS72
| `--P. a. alcestaS72
`--P. phalantha (Drury 1773)B00
|--P. p. phalanthaB00
`--P. p. araca (Waterhouse & Lyell 1914)B00
Argyreus Scopoli 1777B00
`--A. hyperbius (Linnaeus 1763)B00
|--A. h. hyperbiusB00
`--A. h. inconstans (Butler 1873)B00
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[B00] Braby, M. F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution vol. 2. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood (Victoria).
[FS54] Franz, E., & H. Schröder. 1954. Tagfalter (Lep. Rhopalocera) aus El Salvador. Senckenbergiana Biologica 35: 75–87.
Freitas, A. V. L., & K. S. Brown Jr. 2004. Phylogeny of the Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). Systematic Biology 53 (3): 363–383.
[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.
[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.
[J03] Jong, R. de. 2003. Are there butterflies with Gondwanan ancestry in the Australian region? Invertebrate Systematics 17: 143–156.
[PP02] Patrick, B., & H. Patrick. 2002. Butterflies of Fiji. Weta 24: 5–12.
[S55] Schröder, H. 1955. Eine Falter-Ausbeute aus dem westlichen Bolivien. (Ins. Lepid. Rhopal.) Senckenbergiana Biologica 36: 329–338.
[S72] Shields, O. 1972. Flower visitation records for butterflies (Lepidoptera). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 48 (3): 189–203.
[V09] Verdcourt, B. (ed.) 2009. Additions to the wild fauna and flora of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. XXVI. Miscellaneous records. Kew Bulletin 64 (1): 183–194.
[WWN03] Wahlberg, N., E. Weingartner & S. Nylin. 2003. Towards a better understanding of the higher systematics of Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 28: 473–484.