''Tuxentius'' is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 butterfly ...

. They are commonly known as pied Pierrots or

pies A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie), brown sugar (sugar pie), sweeten ...

. Contained in this genus are the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n species formerly placed in ''

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 ye ...

'', except the blue-eyed Pierrot (sometimes called blue pied Pierrot) which is separated in ''

Zintha ''Zintha'' is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. It is monotypic, with the only species being ''Zintha hintza'', the blue-eyed Pierrot, blue pied Pierrot or Hintza blue. The pied Pierrots proper are the closely related genus '' Tuxentius ...

''.Brower (2008), and see references in Savela (2007)

Species

The members of genus ''Tuxentius'' are: * ''

Tuxentius calice ''Tuxentius calice'', the white pie, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Africa southwards of the equator. The wingspan is 21–24 mm for males and 21–25 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round, but are mos ...

'' (Hopffer, 1855) – white Pierrot * ''

Tuxentius carana ''Tuxentius carana'', the forest pied Pierrot, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Central African Repub ...

'' (Hewitson, 1876) – forest pied Pierrot * ''

Tuxentius cretosus ''Tuxentius cretosus'', the savanna pied Pierrot, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Senegal, the Gambia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and Kenya. The habitat consists of dry savanna ...

'' (Butler, 1876) – savanna pied Pierrot * ''

Tuxentius ertli ''Tuxentius ertli'', the Ertli's Pierrot, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. The habitat consists of woodland at high elevations. The larvae feed on ''Gouania ''Gouania'' is a genus of flower ...

'' (Aurivillius, 1907) – Ertli's Pierrot * ''

Tuxentius gabrieli ''Tuxentius gabrieli'', the Gabriel's Pierrot, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Yemen and south-western Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It cover ...

'' Balint, 1999 – Gabriel's Pierrot * ''

Tuxentius hesperis ''Tuxentius hesperis'', the western pie, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, where it is only known from Groblershoop and Vioolsdrif and along the banks of the Orange River in the Northern Cape. The wingspan ...

'' (Vári, 1976) – western pie * ''

Tuxentius kaffana ''Tuxentius kaffana'' is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in south-western Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Repub ...

'' (Talbot, 1935) * ''

Tuxentius margaritaceus ''Tuxentius margaritaceus'', the Margarita's Pierrot or mountain pied Pierrot, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Range and habitat left, At Murchison Falls N. P., Uganda It is found in Nigeria, Cameroon, the highlands of Angola, the DRC ...

'' (Sharpe, 1892) – mountain pied Pierrot * ''

Tuxentius melaena ''Tuxentius melaena'', the black pie or dark pied Pierrot, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Africa. The wingspan is 19–24 mm for males and 21–25 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round, but are most co ...

'' (Trimen, 1887) – dark pied Pierrot * ''

Tuxentius stempfferi ''Tuxentius stempfferi'', the Stempffer's Pierrot, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Tanzania. The species is named after French entomologist Henri Stempffer Henri Stempffer (23 January 1894 – 1 November 1978) was a French ...

'' (Kielland, 1976) – Stempffer's Pierrot

Footnotes

References

* (2008):

Tree of Life Web Project The Tree of Life Web Project is an Internet project providing information about the diversity and phylogeny of life on Earth. This collaborative peer reviewed project began in 1995, and is written by biologists from around the world. The site ...

&ndash
''Tuxentius'' Larsen 1982. The Pied Pierrots
Version of 2008-MAY-19. Retrieved 2009-NOV-29. * (2007): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash

Version of 2007-MAY-20. Retrieved 2009-NOV-29.
Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 73
Polyommatini Lycaenidae genera {{Polyommatini-stub