''Libythea cinyras'' was a species of
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 ...
in the
nymphalid
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 red ...
subfamily
Libytheinae
The Libytheinae are a nymphalid subfamily known as snout butterflies, containing two valid genera and about ten species: six in '' Libythea'' and four in ''Libytheana''. The common name refers to the thick labial palps (pedipalps) that look like ...
. It is now thought to be extinct. It was
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
. The only known specimen is the
holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...
.
[. 2007]
''Libythea cinyras'' Trimen 1866
In
The Tree of Life Web Project
Version 3 December 2007 (under construction). Retrieved 31 October 2009.
References
External links
''Libythea cinyras'' holotype
Butterflies described in 1866
Libythea
Extinct butterflies
Endemic fauna of Mauritius
Extinct insects since 1500
Extinct animals of Mauritius
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxa named by Roland Trimen
Species known from a single specimen
{{Nymphalidae-stub