''Leptotes'' is a

butterfly 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 ...

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 ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 butterfl ...

. They are commonly known as zebra blues in reference to their

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...

-striped undersides. The genus ''Cyclyrius'' was recently synonymized with ''Leptotes'' and its two

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 ...

were thus moved to this genus.

Species

The genus can be divided in several distinct geographic groups which often correspond to

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...

and

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

species: * '' Leptotes adamsoni'' Collins & Larsen, 1991 – Adamson's zebra blue * '' Leptotes babaulti'' (Stempffer, 1935) – Babault's zebra blue * '' Leptotes brevidentatus'' (Tite, 1958) – Tite's zebra blue * '' Leptotes casca'' (Tite, 1958) * '' Leptotes cassioides'' (Capronnier, 1889) * '' Leptotes durrelli'' Fric, Pyrcz & Wiemers, 2019 * '' Leptotes jeanneli'' (Stempffer, 1935) * '' Leptotes mandersi'' (Druce, 1907) * '' Leptotes marginalis'' (Stempffer, 1944) – black-bordered zebra blue * '' Leptotes mayottensis'' (Tite, 1958) * ''

Leptotes pirithous ''Leptotes pirithous'', the Lang's short-tailed blue or common zebra blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. Description ''Leptotes pirithous'' is a small butterfly with a wingspan of 21–29 mm in males and 24–30 mm in female ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1767) – Lang's short-tailed blue, common zebra blue * '' Leptotes pulcher'' (Murray, 1874) – beautiful zebra blue * '' Leptotes pyrczi'' Libert, 2011 * '' Leptotes rabefaner'' (Mabille, 1877) * '' Leptotes sanctithomae'' (Sharpe, 1893) * '' Leptotes socotranus'' (Ogilvie-Grant, 1899) * '' Leptotes webbianus'' (Brullé, 1839) – Canary blue

Indomalayan The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Indi ...

species: * ''

Leptotes plinius ''Leptotes plinius'', the zebra blue or plumbago blue, is a species of blue butterfly (Lycaenidae) found in Sri Lanka, India to Australia. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793. Description This form closely ...

'' (Fabricius, 1793) – zebra blue, plumbago blue

Australasian Australasian is the adjectival form of Australasia, a geographical region including Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continen ...

species: * '' Leptotes lybas'' (Godart,

824 __NOTOC__ Year 824 ( DCCCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * November 11 – The '' Constitutio Romana'' establishes the authority of the ...

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

species: * '' Leptotes andicola'' (Godman & Salvin, 1891) * '' Leptotes bathyllos'' Tessmann, 1928 * '' Leptotes callanga'' (Dyar, 1913) * '' Leptotes cassius'' (Cramer,

775 __NOTOC__ Year 775 (Roman numerals, DCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 775 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domi ...

– Cassius blue, tropical striped blue * '' Leptotes delalande'' Bálint & Johnson, 1995 * '' Leptotes lamasi'' Bálint & Johnson, 1995 * ''

Leptotes marina ''Leptotes marina'', the marine blue or striped blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America and Central America. Description The wingspan is 22–29 mm. Adults are on wing from April to September in the no ...

'' (Reakirt, 1868) – marine blue, striped blue * '' Leptotes parrhasioides'' (Wallengren, 1860) – Galapagos blue * '' Leptotes perkinsae'' Kaye, 1931 * '' Leptotes trigemmatus'' (Butler, 1881) Lycaenidae - Leptotes pirithous-

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 h ...

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''Leptotes'' Scudder 1876. The Zebra Blues
Version of 2008-MAY-19. Retrieved 2009-NOV-29. * (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash

Version of 2009-MAY-24. Retrieved 2009-NOV-29.

External links

Marine Blue, ''Leptotes marina''
at Butterflies and Moths of North America
Cassius Blue, ''Leptotes cassius''
at Butterflies and Moths of North America

at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera Lycaenidae of South America Lycaenidae genera {{Polyommatini-stub