The Achlyodidini (sometimes – but apparently in errorWahlberg ''fide'' Savela (2008) – spelled Achylodidini) are a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

in the skipper butterfly subfamily Pyrginae. Many

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of them are notable for their (by skipper butterfly standards) gaudy colors and the unusually-shaped wings, which look as if the forewing tips have been squarely cut off. They are only found in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, with few occurring out of

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

areas.Brower & Warren (2009) Formerly, when only four tribes of Pyrginae were recognized, they were included in the

Pyrgini The Pyrgini are a tribe (biology), tribe in the skipper butterfly subfamily Pyrginae. Formerly, when only four tribes of Pyrginae were recognized, the Pyrgini contained the largest number of genera among these. But this overly wide delimitation h ...

, which at that time contained a massive number of genera. But the Pyrginae have since been reorganized to make them and their tribes monophyletic, leading most modern authors to treat the Achlyodidini as distinct tribe. However, they are the tribe most closely related to the Pyrgini '' sensu stricto'', and the old circumscription of the Pyrgini was by and large just as correct from a

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

perspective. The other two tribes of the Pyrgini ''sensu lato'' – the Carcharodini and

Erynnini The Erynnini are a tribe in the skipper butterfly subfamily Pyrginae. They are a moderately diverse but quite plesiomorphic and inconspicuous group, and except for the Holarctic species of the type genus ''Erynnis'' occur only in the Neotrop ...

– are not as strikingly

autapomorph In phylogenetics, an autapomorphy is a distinctive feature, known as a derived trait, that is unique to a given taxon. That is, it is found only in one taxon, but not found in any others or outgroup taxa, not even those most closely related to t ...

ic as the Achlyodidini, but they are more distant relatives of the Pyrgini ''sensu stricto'' than the present tribe. Thus, they cannot be included in the Pyrgini without also including the Achlyodidini, and consequently the four-way split of the Pyrgini is more informative than to lump half the known evolutionary diversity of Pyrginae into one huge tribe.

Genera

The genera are listed in the presumed phylogenetic sequence: * '' Achlyodes'' * ''

Aethilla In Greek mythology, Aethilla or Aethylla (Ancient Greek: Αἴθιλλα or Αἴθυλλα) was Trojan princess as a daughter of King Laomedon and sister of Priam, Lampus, Hicetaon, Clytius, Hesione, Cilla, Astyoche, Proclia, Medesicaste an ...

'' Hewitson, 1868 * '' Doberes'' * '' Eantis'' – sicklewings * '' Atarnes'' * '' Charidia'' * '' Paramimus'' * '' Milanion'' * '' Haemactis'' * '' Gindanes'' * ''

Pythonides ''Pythonides'' is a genus of skippers. Species *'' Pythonides lancea'' Pyrginae Hesperiidae genera Taxa named by Jacob Hübner {{Pyrginae-stub ...

'' * '' Quadrus'' * '' Ouleus'' * '' Livida'' * '' Zera''

Footnotes

References

* (2009):

Tree of Life Web Project The Tree of Life Web Project is an Internet project providing information about the diversity and phylogeny of life on Earth. This collaborative peer reviewed project began in 1995, and is written by biologists from around the world. The site ...

&ndash
Achlyodidini
Version of 2009-JUN-14. Retrieved 2009-DEC-26. * (2008): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash

Version of 2008-JUN-17. Retrieved 2008-JAN-24. {{Taxonbar, from=Q518673 * Taxa named by Hermann Burmeister Butterfly tribes