''Hypolimnas'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of tropical

brush-footed butterflies The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a redu ...

commonly known as eggflies or diadems. The genus contains approximately 23

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 ...

, most of which are found in

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 ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

. One species, the Danaid eggfly (''H. misippus''), is noted for its exceptionally wide distribution across five

continents A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

; it is the only ''Hypolimnas'' species 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 ...

. Eggflies are known for their marked

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

and

Batesian mimicry Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, after his work on bu ...

poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

ous

milkweed butterflies Danainae is a subfamily of the family Nymphalidae, the brush-footed butterflies. It includes the Daniadae, or milkweed butterflies, who lay their eggs on various milkweeds on which their larvae (caterpillars) feed, as well as the clearwing butte ...

(Danainae). For example, the Danaid eggfly mimics ''

Danaus chrysippus ''Danaus chrysippus'', also known as the plain tiger, African queen, or African monarch, is a medium-sized butterfly widespread in Asia, Australia and Africa. It belongs to the Danainae subfamily of the brush-footed butterfly family Nymphalidae. ...

'' while the

great eggfly ''Hypolimnas bolina'', the great eggfly, common eggfly, varied eggfly or in New Zealand the blue moon butterfly is a species of nymphalid butterfly found from Madagascar to Asia and Australia. Appearance Race ''bolina'' ''H. bolina'' is a blac ...

(''H. bolina'') mimics the

Australian crow The Torresian crow (''Corvus orru''), also called the Australian crow or Papuan crow, is a passerine bird in the crow family native to the north and west of Australia and nearby islands in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The species has a black ...

(''Euploea core''). In each case, the eggfly mimics the danainid's markings, thus adopting the latter's distasteful reputation to

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

s without being poisonous itself.

Species

Listed alphabetically:_"''Hypolimnas''_Hübner,_[1819]"
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at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' *''Hypolimnas alimena'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – blue-banded eggfly *''Hypolimnas anomala'' (Wallace, 1869) – Malayan eggfly *''Hypolimnas antevorta'' (Distant, 1880) *''Hypolimnas anthedon'' (Doubleday, 1845) – variable eggfly or variable diadem *'' Hypolimnas antilope'' (Cramer,

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– spotted crow eggfly *'' Hypolimnas aubergeri'' Hecq, 1987 – Côte d'Ivoire eggfly *'' Hypolimnas aurifascia'' Mengel, 1903 *'' Hypolimnas bartelotti'' Grose-Smith, 1890 *''

Hypolimnas bolina ''Hypolimnas bolina'', the great eggfly, common eggfly, varied eggfly or in New Zealand the blue moon butterfly is a species of nymphalid butterfly found from Madagascar to Asia and Australia. Appearance Race ''bolina'' ''H. bolina'' is a blac ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – common eggfly or great eggfly *'' Hypolimnas chapmani'' (Hewitson, 1873) – Chapman's eggfly *''

Hypolimnas deceptor ''Hypolimnas deceptor'', the deceptive eggfly or deceptive diadem, is a species of '' Hypolimnas'' butterfly found in southern Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At ...

'' (Trimen, 1873) – deceptive eggfly *'' Hypolimnas deois'' Hewitson, 1858 *'' Hypolimnas dexithea'' (Hewitson, 1863) – Madagascar diadem *'' Hypolimnas dinarcha'' (Hewitson, 1865) – large variable diadem or large variable eggfly *'' Hypolimnas diomea'' Hewitson, 1861 *'' Hypolimnas dimona'' Fruhstorfer, 1912 *'' Hypolimnas euploeoides'' Rothschild, 1915 *'' Hypolimnas fraterna'' Wallace, 1869 *'' Hypolimnas inopinata'' Waterhouse, 1920 *'' Hypolimnas macarthuri'' Neidhoefer, 1972 *'' Hypolimnas mechowi'' (Dewitz, 1884) *'' Hypolimnas misippus'' (Linnaeus, 1764) – mimic, Danaid eggfly, or diadem *'' Hypolimnas monteironis'' (Druce, 1874) – black-tipped diadem or scarce blue diadem *'' Hypolimnas octocula'' Butler, 1869 – eight-spot diadem *'' Hypolimnas pandarus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) *'' Hypolimnas pithoeca'' Kirsch, 1877 *''

Hypolimnas salmacis ''Hypolimnas salmacis'', the blue diadem, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, São ...

'' (Druce, 1773) – blue diadem *'' Hypolimnas saundersii'' (Hewitson, 1869) *'' Hypolimnas usambara'' (Ward, 1872) – red spot diadem or Usambara diadem

References

*Lewis, H. L. (1974). ''Butterflies of the World''. *Miller, L. D., and Miller, J. Y. (2004). ''The Butterfly Handbook'', pp. 134–135. Barron's Educational Series, Inc.; Hauppauge, New York. *Wynter-Blyth, M. A. (1957). ''Butterflies of the Indian Region''. (1982 Reprint)
Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 42 et seq.

External links

Images representing ''Hypolimnas''
at

Consortium for the Barcode of Life The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) was an international initiative dedicated to supporting the development of DNA barcoding as a global standard for species identification. CBOL's Secretariat Office is hosted by the National Museum of ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2713414 Kallimini Taxa named by Jacob Hübner Butterfly genera