[5] H. erato is a neotropical species, found from southern Texas to northern Argentina and Paraguay, and resides on the edges of tropical rainforests.

H. erato is then able to extract nitrogenous compounds in a clear liquid, including amino acids like arginine, leucine, lysine, valine, proline, histidine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, and tryptophan.

[10] To increase chances of survival and cross-pollination, Passiflora plants synthesize toxins in leaves to deter Heliconius.

Studies have identified cyanogenic glycosides and alkaloids as potential chemicals that drive distasteful reactions among Heliconius.

[12][13] Accumulation of toxins such as cyanogenic glycosides leads to a low survival rate among H. erato larvae.

Increasing exposure to parasitoids due to longer time spent on the host plant also contributes to the high mortality rate.

One recent study showed that mortality increased among H. erato larvae which fed on cyanide-releasing Passiflora.

Ehrlich and Gilbert have estimated that parasitoids are capable of destroying most Heliconius eggs under nectar influence.

[17] Therefore, host plants such as Passiflora are believed to have self-defense mechanisms that utilize predators against Heliconius butterflies.

Individual plant choice is based on internode length, terminal bud presence, shoot size, and leaf area, in order to confer greater larval survival advantage.

[6] The roost is typically situated about 2–10 meters from the ground on twigs and tendrils and is occupied by a small group of butterflies.

H. erato is preyed on by birds, lizards, monkeys, and mantids, but is relatively safe due to its unpalatability and protective coloration.

Subspecies have evolved as Müllerian mimics, sharing aposematic patterns with other species in order to deter common predators.

These two subspecies successfully warn predators in their own regions with Müllerian patterns with H. melpomene rosina and H. cydno gustavi, respectively.

Listed alphabetically:[1]The optix gene encodes the complex red coloration of Heliconius wings.

An approximately 50-kb area in the intergenic region near the gene is shared by H. erato and other Heliconius, which contains cis-regulatory elements that control expression of optix.

The eastern clade is from Amazonia, southeastern Brazil, and Guiana, and consists of the subspecies dingus, emma, lativitta, phyllis, notabilis, favorinus, erato, hydara, and venustus.

In addition, while there are similar haplotypes between the clades, they result in drastically different phenotypes - likely due to changes in genetic pathways for wing pattern during independent evolution.

These offspring only survive well in extremely specific hybrid regions and are unsuccessful elsewhere because their unusual recombinant phenotype attracts more predators.

It emanates from two external protrusions on the abdomen of the female, which are adjacent to yellow glands that are thought to store the pheromone.

The odor on females can last for weeks, even months, and is advantageous as neither sex wastes time or risks injury in subsequent matings.

[21] One study used amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data sets to place the origins of H. erato at 2.8 million years ago.