Heliconius erato petiverana is a subspecies or geographical race of the red postman butterfly. It is commonly known as the crimson-patched longwing. It is characterized by a red forewing patch and a yellow transverse stripe on the hindwing, on an otherwise black or dark brown background. The type locality is "Mexico", and the form occurs from southern Texas to central Panama. Some lepidopterists distinguish the named forms H. erato cruentus Lamas, 1998 and H. erato demophoon Menetries, 1855 as separate races, based on the size of the red FW patch and the thickness of the yellow HW stripe.