The Acraeini are a
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...
of
butterflies
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 ...
of the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...
Heliconiinae
The Heliconiinae, commonly called heliconians or longwings, are a subfamily of the brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They can be divided into 45–50 genera and were sometimes treated as a separate family Heliconiidae within the P ...
in the family
Nymphalidae
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 ...
.
Genera
The recognized genera are:
[ Tree of Life]
* ''
Abananote''
Potts, 1943
* ''
Acraea
Acraea ( Ancient Greek: means 'of the heights' from ''akraios'') was a name that had several uses in Greek and Roman mythology.
*Acraea, the naiad daughter of the river-god Asterion near Mycenae, who together with her sisters Euboea and Pr ...
''
Fabricius, 1807 – acraeas
* ''
Actinote''
Hübner, 819/small> – actinotes
* '' Altinote'' Potts, 1943 – altinotes
* '' Bematistes'' Hemming, 1935
*'' Cethosia'' (Fabricius, 1807) – lacewings
* '' Miyana'' (Fruhstorfer, 1914)
The genus ''Acraea'' is highly paraphyletic
In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In ...
and needs to be redelimited. This will possibly re-establish the old genus ''Telchinia'', and perhaps others.
The genus '' Pardopsis'' Trimen, 1887, previously included in Acraeini, has tentatively been moved to the Argynnini tribe.
References
External links
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3354454
*
Taxa named by Jean Baptiste Boisduval
Butterfly tribes