''Salamis'' is a genus of

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 ...

butterflies 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 ...

. They are commonly known as mother-of-pearls and are found in Africa. Salamis was a nymph in Greek mythology, the daughter of the river god Asopus and Metope, daughter of the Ladon, another river god.

Taxonomy

The earliest description of species in this genus were published in the second half of the 18th century by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, Drury and Fabricius in the genus ''

Papilio ''Papilio'' is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, as well as the only representative of the tribe Papilionini. The word ''papilio'' is Latin for butterfly. It includes the common yellow swallowtail (''Papilio machaon''), ...

''. In 1833, Boisduval created the genus ''Salamis'' with the description of '' S. augustina''. The three previously described species of ''Papilio'' ('' P. anacardii'', '' P. parhassus'' and '' P. cacta'') were then added to the genus ''Salamis''. Similarly, multiple species first described in the 19th century in the related genus of ''

Junonia ''Junonia'' is a genus of nymphalid butterflies, described by Jacob Hübner in 1819. They are commonly known as buckeyes, pansies or commodores. This genus flies on every continent except Antarctica. The genus contains roughly 30 to 35 species. ...

'' were later reassigned to this genus. Recent phylogenetic studies have supported the proposal to consider the group of ''

Protogoniomorpha ''Protogoniomorpha'' is a genus of nymphalid butterflies found in the Afrotropical realm, commonly known as mother-of-pearls. Taxonomy ''Protogoniomorpha'' was viewed as part of '' Salamis'' by Ackery et al. (1995). Based on phylogenetic resear ...

'', which was often considered to be a part of ''Salamis'', as a distinct genus.

Species

Alphabetical order:"''Salamis'' Boisduval, 1833"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' * ''

Salamis anteva ''Salamis anteva'' is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found on Madagascar. The habitat consists of forests. It is a butterfly with a black body covered with orange-brown hair; claviform antennae; above the orange-colored, anterior w ...

'' (Ward, 1870) * ''

Salamis augustina ''Salamis augustina'' is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found on Mauritius and Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Oc ...

'' Boisduval, 1833 * ''

Salamis cacta ''Salamis cacta'', the lilac mother-of-pearl or lilac beauty, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Repu ...

'' (Fabricius, 1793) – lilac mother-of-pearl or lilac beauty * ''

Salamis humbloti ''Salamis humbloti'' is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found on the Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in sout ...

'' Turlin, 1994 See also the species of ''

'' previously ordered in ''Salamis''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q374199 Junoniini Butterfly genera Taxa named by Jean Baptiste Boisduval