Pyrginae, commonly known as spread-winged skippers, are a

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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of the

skipper butterfly Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea, but have since been placed in the superfamily Papilion ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

(Hesperiidae). The subfamily was established by

Hermann Burmeister Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (also known as Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister) (15 January 1807 – 2 May 1892) was a German Argentine zoologist, entomologist, herpetologist, botany, botanist, and coleopterologist. He served as a professor at ...

in 1878. Their delimitation and internal

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

has changed considerably in recent years with the most recent review being in 2019. It still is the second-largest subfamily of skipper butterflies, although of its over 1,000 species a considerable number are no longer in that classification.

Description and distribution

Spread-winged skippers bask with their wings held wide open. The wings are held closed when they are at rest. They are usually brown, black, or checkered, but some are brilliantly coloured. Some have long tailed hind wings.Daniels (2003): p.12 Males maintain territories and frequently perch on overhanging branches and tree trunks. They do not visit flowers for sustenance, but rather drink fluids from dung,

carrion Carrion (), also known as a carcass, is the decaying flesh of dead animals. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures ...

, and rotting fruit. A large and successful subfamily, the spread-winged skippers are found essentially worldwide, except in very cold or

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

regions. They probably originated in the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and subsequently extended their range into more

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

regions. Most of the more advanced tribes, on the other hand, are very diverse in the

Neotropics 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 biogeog ...

, which their ancestors would have found most easy to reach by crossing the central Atlantic Ocean, rather than taking the longer route via Europe and North America or the Pacific Ocean. It is also possible that the group originated in the

and subsequently dispersed eastwards to Africa via the

Intertropical Convergence Zone The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ , or ICZ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the t ...

Tribes

The four

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

of the Pyrginae in their modern circumscription are, in

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

sequence: *

Carcharodini The Carcharodini are a tribe in the skipper butterfly subfamily Pyrginae. They are a very diverse but quite plesiomorphic and inconspicuous group distributed throughout the tropics.Brower (2009) Formerly, when only four tribes of Pyrginae were ...

Achlyodidini The Achlyodidini (sometimes – but apparently in errorWahlberg ''fide'' Savela (2008) – spelled Achylodidini) are a tribe in the skipper butterfly subfamily Pyrginae. Many species of them are notable for their (by skipper butterfly st ...

Erynnini The Erynnini are a tribe in the skipper butterfly subfamily Pyrginae. They are a moderately diverse but quite plesiomorphic and inconspicuous group, and except for the Holarctic species of the type genus '' Erynnis'' occur only in the Neotropic ...

Pyrgini The Pyrgini are a tribe (biology), tribe in the skipper butterfly subfamily Pyrginae. Formerly, when only four tribes of Pyrginae were recognized, the Pyrgini contained the largest number of genera among these. But this overly wide delimitation h ...

Former tribes

Celaenorrhinini The Celaenorrhinini are a tribe of spread-winged skippers in the skipper butterfly subfamily Tagiadinae. These skippers are mainly found in tropical Africa. A few are found in Asia, and some species presently placed in the (paraphyletic) type g ...

- now placed within the subfamily

Tagiadinae Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea, but have since been placed in the superfamily Papilion ...

Eudamini The Eudaminae are a subfamily of skipper butterflies (family Hesperiidae). Their original type genus ''Eudamus'' is today a junior synonym of '' Urbanus''. They are largely found in the Neotropics, with some extending into temperate North Amer ...

- now placed within the subfamily

Eudaminae The Eudaminae are a subfamily of skipper butterflies (family Hesperiidae). Their original type genus ''Eudamus'' is today a junior synonym of '' Urbanus''. They are largely found in the Neotropics, with some extending into temperate North Amer ...

Tagiadini The Tagiadini are a tribe (biology), tribe of skipper butterfly, butterflies in the family Skipper (butterfly), Hesperiidae. Many of its genera were of uncertain relationships for long, and delimitation of the Tagiadini versus the Celaenorrhinin ...

- now placed within the subfamily

* Pyrrhopygini - now placed within the subfamily Pyrrhopyginae

Footnotes

References

* (2003): ''Butterflies of the Carolinas''. Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, MN, USA. .

External links

Subfamily Pyrginae
fro
Bugguide.net
* Cirrus Digital Imagin

Butterflies and Moths of North America

Butterflies of America
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1306572 Taxa named by Hermann Burmeister

Description and distribution

Tribes

Former tribes

Footnotes

References

Further reading

External links