taxon_rank heliconius ismenius
The Naturalist on the River Amazons , subtitled " A Record of the Adventures , Habits of Animals , Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life , and Aspects of Nature under the Equator , during Eleven Years of Travel ", is an 1863 book by the British naturalist Henry Walter Bates about his expedition to the Amazon basin . Bates and his friend Alfred Russel Wallace set out to obtain new ___MASK58___ and new evidence for evolution by natural selection , as well as exotic specimens to sell . He explored thousands of miles of the Amazon and its tributaries , and collected over 14 , 000 ___MASK58___ , of which 8 , 000 were new to science . His observations of the coloration of butterflies led him to discover Batesian mimicry . The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (" Danaus plexippus ") is a milkweed butterfly ( ___MASK61___ Danainae ) in the ___MASK85___ Nymphalidae . Other common names depending on region include milkweed , common tiger , wanderer , and black veined brown . It may be the most familiar North American butterfly , and is considered an iconic pollinator ___MASK58___ . Its wings feature an easily recognizable black , orange , and white pattern , with a wingspan of The viceroy butterfly is similar in color and pattern , but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hindwing . Beetles are a ___MASK23___ of insects that ___MASK51___ the order Coleoptera . The word " coleoptera " is from the Greek , " koleós ", meaning " sheath "; and , " pterón ", meaning " wing ", thus " sheathed wing ", because most beetles have two pairs of wings , the front pair , the " elytra ", being hardened and thickened into a shell - like protection for the rear pair and the beetle ' s abdomen . The order contains more ___MASK58___ than any other order , constituting almost 25 % of all known animal life - forms . About 40 % of all described insect ___MASK58___ are beetles ( about 400 , 000 ___MASK58___ ), and new ___MASK58___ are discovered frequently . The largest taxonomic family , the Curculionidae ( the weevils or snout beetles ), also belongs to this order . In biology , a ___MASK58___ ( abbreviated sp ., with the plural form ___MASK58___ abbreviated spp .) is the basic unit of biological classification and a taxonomic rank . A ___MASK58___ is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which two individuals can produce fertile offspring , typically by sexual reproduction . While this definition is often adequate , looked at more closely it is often problematic . For example , in a ___MASK58___ complex , the boundaries between closely related ___MASK58___ become unclear or disappear altogether . Other ways of defining ___MASK58___ include similarity of DNA , morphology , or ecological niche . The presence of locally adaptive traits may further subdivide ___MASK58___ into infraspecific taxa such as subspecies . A scientific theory is a well - substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method and repeatedly tested and confirmed , preferably using a written , predefined , protocol of observations and experiments . Scientific theories are the most reliable , rigorous , and comprehensive ___MASK51___ of scientific knowledge . Robert Waring Darwin ( 30 May 1766  13 November 1848 ) was an English medical doctor , who today is best known as the father of the naturalist Charles Darwin . He was a member of the influential Darwin - Wedgwood ___MASK85___ . In evolutionary biology , mimicry is a similarity of one organism , usually an animal , to another that has evolved because the resemblance is selectively favoured by the behaviour of a shared signal receiver that can respond to both . Mimicry may evolve between different ___MASK58___ , or between individuals of the same ___MASK58___ . Often , mimicry evolves to protect a ___MASK58___ from predators , making it an antipredator adaptation . The resemblances that evolve in mimicry can be in appearance , behaviour , sound or scent . Mimicry may be to the advantage of both organisms that share a resemblance , in which case it is a mutualism , or mimicry can be to the detriment of one , making it parasitic or competitive . Henry Walter Bates ( 8 February 1825 in Leicester  16 February 1892 in London ) was an English naturalist and explorer who gave the first scientific account of mimicry in animals . He was most famous for his expedition to the rainforests of the Amazon with Alfred Russel Wallace , starting in 1848 . Wallace returned in 1852 , but lost his collection on the return voyage when his ship caught fire . When Bates arrived home in 1859 after a full eleven years , he had sent back over 14 , 712 ___MASK58___ ( mostly of insects ) of which 8 , 000 were new to science . Bates wrote up his findings in his best - known work , " The Naturalist on the River Amazons ". Charles Robert Darwin , ( 12 February 1809  19 April 1882 ) was an English naturalist and geologist , best known for his contributions to the science of evolution . He established that all ___MASK58___ of life have descended over time from common ancestors , and in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection , in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding . Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations . Evolutionary processes give rise to biodiversity at every level of biological organisation , including the levels of ___MASK58___ , individual organisms , and molecules . Alfred Russel Wallace ( 8 January 1823  7 November 1913 ) was a British naturalist , explorer , geographer , anthropologist , and biologist . He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection ; his paper on the subject was jointly published with some of Charles Darwin ' s writings in 1858 . This prompted Darwin to publish his own ideas in " On the Origin of ___MASK58___ ." Wallace did extensive fieldwork , first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago , where he identified the faunal divide now termed the Wallace Line , which separates the Indonesian archipelago into two distinct parts : a western portion in which the animals are largely of Asian origin , and an eastern portion where the fauna reflect Australasia . The Ismenius Tiger or Tiger Heliconian ( Heliconius ismenius ) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae ___MASK85___ found in Central America and northern South America . They are highly populous as south as Ecuador and Venezuela and as north as southern Mexico , Guatemala and Belize . The H . ismenius are more commonly called the tiger - striped long wing butterfly . The H . ismenius ' s nickname is blatantly derived from its long butterfly wing structure as well as the beautiful burnt orange and black stripes , which resemble the stripes of a tiger coat . Pierre André Latreille , a French Zoologist , found the Heliconius ismenius in 1817 . The H . ismenius is known for being the first individual evidence , other than Charles Darwin ' s finch research in the Galapagos Islands , for the proof of natural selection , exemplified by Henry Walter Bates . The Nymphalidae are the largest ___MASK85___ of butterflies with about 6 , 000 ___MASK58___ distributed throughout most of the world . These are usually medium - sized to large butterflies . Most ___MASK58___ have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting . They are also called brush - footed butterflies or four - footed butterflies , because they are known to stand on only four legs while the other two are curled up ; in some ___MASK58___ , these forelegs have a brush - like set of hairs which gives this ___MASK85___ its other common name . Many ___MASK58___ are brightly coloured and include popular ___MASK58___ such as the emperors , monarch butterfly , admirals , tortoiseshells , and fritillaries . However , the under wings are , in contrast , often dull and in some ___MASK58___ look remarkably like dead leaves , or are much paler , producing a cryptic effect that helps the butterflies blend into their surroundings . Pierre André Latreille ( 29 November 1762  6 February 1833 ) was a French zoologist , specialising in arthropods . Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution , Latreille was imprisoned , and only regained his freedom after recognising a rare beetle ___MASK58___ he found in the prison , " Necrobia ruficollis ". An arthropod ( from Greek " arthro -", joint + " podos ", foot ) is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton ( external skeleton ), a segmented body , and jointed appendages ( paired appendages ). Arthropods ___MASK51___ the ___MASK10___ Arthropoda , which includes the insects , arachnids , myriapods , and crustaceans . Arthropods are characterized by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chitin , often mineralised with calcium carbonate . The arthropod body plan consists of segments , each with a pair of appendages . The rigid cuticle inhibits growth , so arthropods replace it periodically by moulting . Their versatility has enabled them to become the most ___MASK58___ - rich members of all ecological guilds in most environments . They have over a million described ___MASK58___ , making up more than 80 % of all described living animal ___MASK58___ , some of which , unlike most animals , are very successful in dry environments .