''Tarucus'' is a

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 ...

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 ...

in the

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 ...

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfl ...

. They are commonly known as blue Pierrots or simply Pierrots. The latter name is often used for the closely related genus ''

Castalius ''Castalius'' is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as Pierrots. This name is also often used for the very closely related genus '' Tarucus''. In fact, the delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus'' is not y ...

''. The delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus'' is not yet fully resolved, with some species, such as the

dark Pierrot ''Tarucus ananda'', the dark Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Castalius'', and with the delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus'' being not ...

(''T. ananda''), having been moved between the two genera repeatedly. It may even be that they are eventually regarded as

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

ous, and in that case the older name ''Castalius'' would supersede ''Tarucus'' by the ''

Principle of Priority 270px, '' valid name. Priority is a fundamental principle of modern botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature. Essentially, it is the principle of recognising the first valid application of a name to a plant or animal. There are two asp ...

''. Several

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 ...

formerly in ''Tarucus'' were moved to '' Leptotes'', another closely related lineage (though not quite as close as ''Castalius''). The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s of this genus typically feed on '' Zizyphus'' and are attended by ants.

Species

The genus can be divided in two distinct groups. These are generally separated geographically, but some taxa (such as the

black-spotted Pierrot ''Tarucus balcanicus nigra'', the black-spotted Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. Formerly regarded as a distinct species, it is nowadays considered to be a well-marked eastern subspecie ...

, ''T. balkanicus nigra''), though assigned to one group, occur in the range of the other. Consequently, it is not quite clear whether the groups are

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

s or merely convenient but

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

assemblages:Brower (2008), and see references in Savela (2009)

Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...

group: * ''

Tarucus balkanicus ''Tarucus balkanicus'', the Balkan Pierrot or little tiger blue, is a small butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. It is found in Mauritania, Niger (the Aïr region), Sudan (Khartoum), Uganda, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Em ...

'' – Balkan Pierrot, little tiger blue ** '' Tarucus balkanicus nigra'' – black-spotted Pierrot * ''

Tarucus bowkeri ''Tarucus bowkeri'', or Bowker's blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, from the Northern Cape, south to fynbos in the West Cape and east to the Amathole Mountains in the Eastern Cape. The wingspan The ...

'' (Trimen, 1883) – Bowker's blue * ''

Tarucus grammicus ''Tarucus grammicus'', the dark Pierrot or black Pierrot, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Yemen, southern Ethiopia, Somalia, eastern and northern Kenya and northern Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United R ...

'' (Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1893) – black Pierrot * '' Tarucus kiki'' Larsen, 1976 – Kiki's Pierrot * ''

Tarucus kulala ''Tarucus kulala'', the Turkana Pierrot, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Somalia (Ogaden) and northern Kenya. Adults have been recorded feeding from the flowers of '' Loewia tanaensis''. The larvae probably feed on ''Ziz ...

'' Evans, 1955 – Turkana Pierrot * ''

Tarucus legrasi ''Tarucus legrasi'', the Le Gras' Pierrot, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Senegal, Burkina Faso, northern Ivory Coast, Nigeria (north of Kano), Niger ( Aïr), northern Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, northern Uganda, north-western ...

'' Stempffer, 1944 – Le Gras' Pierrot * ''

Tarucus quadratus ''Tarucus quadratus'' is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Yemen (Socotra) and Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic o ...

'' Ogilvie-Grant, 1899 * ''

Tarucus rosacea ''Tarucus rosacea'', the Mediterranean Pierrot or Mediterranean tiger blue, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Mauritania, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, northern Ivory Coast, northern Ghana, northern Nigeria, Ni ...

'' (Austaut, 1885) – Mediterranean tiger blue, Mediterranean Pierrot * ''

Tarucus sybaris ''Tarucus sybaris'', the dotted blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in southern Africa. The wingspan is 22–26 mm for males and 20–27 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round, with a peak from November t ...

'' (Hopffer, 1855) – Dotted blue * ''

Tarucus theophrastus ''Tarucus theophrastus'', the common tiger blue, pointed Pierrot or African Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in the Old World tropics. It belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. This is the type species of the genus ''Tarucus''. Descrip ...

'' – pointed Pierrot, African Pierrot, common tiger blue * '' Tarucus thespis'' (Linnaeus, 1764) – Vivid blue * '' Tarucus ungemachi'' Stempffer, 1944 – Ungemach's Pierrot

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

n group: * ''

Tarucus ananda ''Tarucus ananda'', the dark Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Castalius'', and with the delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus'' being not ...

'' – dark Pierrot * ''

Tarucus callinara ''Tarucus callinara'', the spotted Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family found in India, Myanmar and Thailand. See also *List of butterflies of India *List of butterflies of India (Lycaenida ...

'' – spotted Pierrot * '' Tarucus indica'' – Indian Pierrot * '' Tarucus nara'' – striped Pierrot * '' Tarucus venosus'' – veined Pierrot, Himalayan Pierrot * '' Tarucus waterstradti'' Druce, 1895 ** '' Tarucus waterstradti dharta'' – Assam Pierrot Others: * '' Tarucus alteratus'' * '' Tarucus extricatus''

Footnotes

References

* (2008): Tree of Life Web Project &ndash
''Tarucus'' Moore 1881. The Blue Pierrots
Version of 19 May 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2009. * (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash

Version of 15 August 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 74 et prae
Lycaenidae genera {{Polyommatini-stub