''Castalius'' is a
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Lycaenidae
Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterf ...
. They are commonly known as Pierrots. This name is also often used for the very closely related genus ''
Tarucus''.
In fact, the delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus'' is not yet fully resolved, with some species, such as the
dark Pierrot
''Tarucus ananda'', the dark Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the Lycaenidae, lycaenids or blues family. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Castalius'', and with the delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus'' ...
(''T. ananda''), having been moved between the two genera repeatedly. Regardless of how this may turn out, the
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n species formerly placed in ''Castalius'' are now in ''
Tuxentius'' (pied Pierrots) and ''
Zintha'' (blue-eyed Pierrot), which are also very close relatives (in particular the former).
Species
Only four
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 ...
are placed in ''Castalius'' nowadays. But as noted above, it may be that ''Tarucus'' and the present genus are eventually regarded as
synonymous. In that case, the older name ''Castalius'' would again apply to the two dozen species in question.
[Brower (2008), and see references in Savela (2009)]
* ''
Castalius clathratus''
(Holland, 891 Celebes
* ''
Castalius fasciatus''
(Röber, 1887) Celebes
* ''
Castalius fluvialis''
(Grose-Smith, 1895) Celebes
* ''
Castalius rosimon
''Castalius rosimon'', the common Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids, or blues family.
]
Distribution
The species is found in Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar; Tenasserim, extending into the Malayan subreg ...
''
(Fabricius, 1775) – common Pierrot
Footnotes
References
* (2008):
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
''Castalius'' Hübner 1819. Pierrots Version of 19 May 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
* (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash
Version of 30 March 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
Lycaenidae genera
{{Polyommatini-stub