''Lithopsyche'' is a fossil

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 ...

known from

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

-aged strata of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, England. The sole specimen is too incomplete to allow a certain assignment of a

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 ...

, but it was placed on its description as a

geometrid The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek ''geo'' γεω (derivative form of or "the earth"), and ''metr ...

and more recently in the

Riodininae __NOTOC__ Riodininae is the largest of the three subfamilies within the metalmark butterfly family, Riodinidae. Classification Riodininae contains the following tribes: * Befrostiini Grishin, 2019 * Calydnini Seraphim, Freitas & Kaminski, 201 ...

. The late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

-aged ''

Lithodryas styx ''Lithodryas'' is a prehistoric genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It was introduced as a replacement for Samuel Hubbard Scudder's genus ''Lithopsyche'', which is invalid as a homonym, as another fossil lepidopteran genus had been ...

'', of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, was originally described with the same genus name.

References

* * * Fossil Lepidoptera † Fossil taxa described in 1889 Oligocene insects Prehistoric insects of Europe {{paleo-Lepidoptera-stub