''Megathecla'' is a gossamer-winged butterfly

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 ...

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Eumaeini The Eumaeini are a tribe of gossamer-winged butterflies (family Lycaenidae). They are typically placed in the subfamily Theclinae, but sometimes considered a separate subfamily Eumaeinae. Over 1,000 species are found in the Neotropical realm Sys ...

in the

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 ...

Theclinae. These butterflies are found in the

Neotropical realm 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 ...

. The distinctness of this genus was only recognized after the year 2000, even though the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

'' M. gigantea'' has been scientifically known since the late 19th century. It contains three

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 ...

at present, but undescribed ones are likely to exist: * '' Megathecla corentini'' Faynel, 2009 * '' Megathecla cupentus'' (Stoll,

781 __NOTOC__ Year 781 ( DCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 781 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Euro ...

(sometimes in ''Cupathecla'') * '' Megathecla gigantea'' (Hewitson, 1867) The initial name proposed for this lineage was ''Gulliveria'', but some authors do not consider it validly published. In any case, this name was already established for a supposed genus of cardinalfishesIncluding the

mouth almighty ''Glossamia aprion'' is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish from the family Apogonidae, the cardinalfishes, from northern Australia and New Guinea. In Australia, it is commonly known as the mouth almighty. Description ''G. aprion'' has a cr ...

, ''

Glossamia aprion ''Glossamia aprion'' is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish from the family Apogonidae, the cardinalfishes, from northern Australia and New Guinea. In Australia, it is commonly known as the mouth almighty. Description ''G. aprion'' has a cr ...

'' earlier and thus cannot be used for the butterflies. As replacement for ''"Gulliveria"'', one of the original authors proposed ''Gullicaena''. But another

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

had already established ''Megathecla'' for exactly the same purpose some months earlier, and this name is thus used today. If, however, ''"Gulliveria"'' was never validly published, ''Megathecla'' must be formally acknowledged by the

ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the I ...

. ''M. cupentus'' – a species described in 1781 – is sometimes separated in a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Cupathecla'', but considering that the relationships of these species are by no means fully resolved, it seems premature to recognize it.

Footnotes

References

* * Savela, Markku (2011): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash
''Megathecla''
Version of December 11, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2012. Eumaeini Butterflies of Central America Lycaenidae of South America Fauna of the Amazon Lycaenidae genera {{Eumaeini-stub