''Tuxentius'' 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 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 y ...
'', except the blue-eyed Pierrot (sometimes called blue pied Pierrot) which is separated in ''
Zintha''.
[Brower (2008), and see references in Savela (2007)]
Species
The members of genus ''Tuxentius'' are:
* ''
Tuxentius calice''
(Hopffer, 1855) – white Pierrot
* ''
Tuxentius carana''
(Hewitson, 1876) – forest pied Pierrot
* ''
Tuxentius cretosus''
(Butler, 1876) – savanna pied Pierrot
* ''
Tuxentius ertli''
(Aurivillius, 1907) – Ertli's Pierrot
* ''
Tuxentius gabrieli''
Balint, 1999 – Gabriel's Pierrot
* ''
Tuxentius hesperis''
(Vári, 1976) – western pie
* ''
Tuxentius kaffana''
(Talbot, 1935)
* ''
Tuxentius margaritaceus''
(Sharpe, 1892) – mountain pied Pierrot
* ''
Tuxentius melaena''
(Trimen, 1887) – dark pied Pierrot
* ''
Tuxentius stempfferi''
(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 h ...
&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