Cyrestinae is the name of a small
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
of nymphalid
brush-footed butterflies
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
. It is considered to include only three genera – ''Marpesia'', ''Chersonesia'', and ''Cyrestis'' – distributed in the tropics.
[N. Wahlberg , J. Leneveu , U. Kodandaramaiah , C. Peña , S. Nylin , A. V. L. Freitas , and A. V. Z. Brower (2009). Nymphalid butterflies diversify following near demise at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences'' 276: 4295–4302.]
Systematics
The circumscription of the Cyrestinae has seen some changes in the recent years, when the former tribes Cyrestini and
Pseudergolini were suggested to form a monophyletic clade, and the name was given to the proposed new subfamily,
[Niklas Wahlberg , Elisabet Weingartner , and Sören Nylin (2003). ''Towards a better understanding of the higher systematics of Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea)'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 28: 473–484.] but the tribes were split again later—as two independent subfamilies—as their positions within the Nymphalidae were defined more clearly.
It is now considered to be the sister group to the larger subfamily
Nymphalinae
The Nymphalinae are a subfamily of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). Sometimes, the subfamilies Limenitidinae, and Biblidinae are included here as subordinate tribe(s), while the tribe Melitaeini is occasionally regarded as a distinc ...
, and only three genera are included:
*''
Cyrestis
''Cyrestis'' is a butterfly genus in the family Nymphalidae. They are known as map butterflies, so named because the wing-markings of some species resemble the lines of latitude and longitude of a world map. ''Cyrestis'' is a widespread genus ra ...
''
*''
Chersonesia
''Chersonesia'' is an Indomalayan butterfly genus in the family Nymphalidae. The common name is maplet.
Species
*'' Chersonesia excellens'' (Martin, 1903)
*'' Chersonesia intermedia'' Martin, 1895
*'' Chersonesia nicevillei'' Martin, 1895
*'' Ch ...
''
*''
Marpesia''
''Marpesia'' is Neotropical and ''Cyrestis'' and ''Chersonesia'' are mainly Oriental with a few species in the Afrotropics.
[Wahlberg, Niklas and Andrew V. Z. Brower. (2012). ''Cyrestinae'' Guenée 1865. Version 6 August 2012 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Cyrestinae/69949/2012.08.06 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/]
References
External links
*
Taxa named by Achille Guenée
Butterfly subfamilies
{{Nymphalidae-stub