Phengaris

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Superfamilia: Papilionoidea

Familia: Lycaenidae
Subfamilia: Polyommatinae
Tribus: Polyommatini
Genus: Phengaris
Species (16):
P. albida – P. alcon – P. arion – P. arionides – P. atroguttata – P. cyanecula – P. daitozana – P. kazamoto – P. kurentzovi – P. nausithous – P. ogumae – P. rebeli – P. sinalcon – P. takamukui – P. teleius – P. xiushani
Name

Phengaris Doherty, 1891

Type species: Lycaena atroguttata Oberthür, 1876
Synonyms

Maculinea van Eecke, 1915: 28. Type species: Papilio alcon [Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775. Synonymy in Fric et al., 2007: 563.

References
Primary references

Doherty, W. 1891: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 60 (2): [36] [not seen]
van Eecke, R., 1915. Bijdrage tot de kennis der Nederlandsche Lycaena-soorten. Zoologische Mededeelingen 1(3): 22-31. text.

Additional references

Als, T.D., Vila, R., Kandul, N.P., Nash, D.R., Yen, S.-H., Hsu, Y.-F., Mignault, A.A., Boomsma, J.J., & Pierce, N.E. 2004. The evolution of alternative parasitic life histories in large blue butterflies. Nature 432: 386–390. DOI: 10.1038/NATURE03020 Reference page.
Balletto, E. et al. 2010: Case 3508. Maculinea Van Eecke, 1915 (Lepidoptera: LYCAENIDAE): proposed precedence over Phengaris Doherty, 1891. Bulletin of zoological nomenclature, 67 (2): 129–132. Abstract
Fric, Z., Wahlberg, N., Pech, P. & Zrzavý, J. 2007. Phylogeny and classification of the Phengaris–Maculinea clade (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae): total evidence and phylogenetic species concepts. Systematic entomology 32: 558–567. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3113.2007.00387.x Reference page.
Korb, S.K., 2010: New taxa of satyrids and blues (Lepidoptera: Satyridae, Lycaenidae) from Kirghizia. Eversmannia 23-24: 10–16.
Korb, S.K., 2011: A review of the subgenus Maculinea van Eecke, 1915 of the genus Phengaris Doherty, 1891 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) of the palaearctic fauna. Eversmannia, 27-28: 22–46.
Pech, P., Fric, Z., Konvicka, M. & Zrzavý, J. 2004. Phylogeny of Maculinea blues (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) based on morphological and ecological characters: evolution of parasitic myrmecophily. Cladistics 20(4): 362–375. DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2004.00031.x Paywall. Reference page.
Sheljuzhko, L.A. 1928. Neue palaearktische Lycaeniden. Lepidopterologische Rundschau 2 (4): 44-46, (5): 51-52, (6): 62-64. Reference page.
Sibatani, A., Saigusa, T. & Hirowatari, T., 1994. The genus Maculinea van Eeke, 1915 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from the East Palaearctic Region. Tyô-to-Ga 44 (4): 157–220, 50 Figs.
Ugelvig, L.V., Vila, R., Pierce, N.E. & Nash, D.R., 2011. A phylogenetic revision of the Glaucopsyche section (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), with special focus on the Phengaris–Maculinea clade. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 61(1): 237–243. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.05.016 Paywall. Reference page.
Wang, M. & Settele, J., 2010: Notes on and key to the genus Phengaris (s. str.) (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from mainland China with description of a new species. Zookeys 48: 21-28. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.48.415. Reference page.

Links

ION
Nomenclator Zoologicus

Phengaris is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies in the subfamily Polyommatinae. Commonly, these butterflies are called large blues, which if referring to a particular species is P. arion, a species resident in Europe and some parts of Asia.
Underside of the large blue (P. arion), formerly in Maculinea in Rabastens-de-Bigorre, Hautes-Pyrénées, France

Phengaris is currently defined to include the genus Maculinea. The type species of the latter was the Alcon blue ("M." alcon). This species was found to be less closely related to most other supposed members of Maculinea than the traditional Phengaris species, and hence the two genera were merged to form a monophyletic group. Alternatively, Maculinea could be restricted to the one or two species of "Alcon" blues, and the rest of it be separated as a new genus. But this would create two very small genera, which is generally avoided by modern taxonomists. As Phengaris is the older name, it thus replaces Maculinea.[1]

Maculinea was alternatively considered to be a subgenus of Glaucopsyche. But while Glaucopsyche and Phengaris (including Maculinea) are certainly close relatives, they are unlikely to be that close.

The most recently discovered species in the genus is P. xiushani, first reported in 2010 and found in undisturbed forested mountains, unlike all the other members which live in grasslands over their entire range of distribution.[2]

Species

The species, listed in the presumed phylogenetic sequence from the most ancestral to the most apomorphic, are:[3][failed verification]

Basal group (Maculinea sensu stricto)

Phengaris alcon – Alcon blue, Alcon large blue
†Phengaris alcon arenaria – Dutch Alcon blue
Phengaris rebeli – mountain Alcon blue (may belong in P. alcon)

Phengaris sensu stricto

Phengaris daitozana (Wileman, 1908)
Phengaris albida (Leech, 1893)
Phengaris atroguttata – great spotted blue
Phengaris xiushani Wang & Settele, 2010[2] – Xiushan's large blue

Other "Maculinea"

Phengaris kurentzovi (Sibatani, Saigusa & Hirowatari, 1994)
Phengaris kurentzovi kurentzovi northern China and Korea
Phengaris kurentzovi daurica Dubatolov, 1999 Transbaikalia
Phengaris nausithous – dusky large blue
Phengaris ogumae (Matsumura, 1910) (tentatively placed here)
Phengaris ogumae ogumae Japan
Phengaris ogumae doii (Matsumura, 1928) Kuriles
Phengaris teleius – scarce large blue
Phengaris cyanecula (Eversmann, 1848)
Phengaris cyanecula cyanecula Mongolia
Phengaris cyanecula obscurior (Staudinger, 1901) Tian-Shan
Phengaris cyanecula taras (Fruhstorfer, 1915) Alay Mountains
Phengaris cyanecula ussuriensis (Sheljuzhko, 1928) Amur Oblast, Ussuri
Phengaris arion – large blue
Phengaris ligurica (Wagner, 1904) (may belong in P. arion)
Phengaris takamukui
Phengaris arionides – greater large blue

Incertae sedis

Phengaris xiaheana (Murayama, 1919)

Footnotes

Brower (2008)
"New Species of Large Blue Butterfly Discovered". Science Daily. 2010-06-13. Retrieved 2010-06-13.

See Brower (2008) and the references in Savela (2006, 2008)

References

Brower, Andrew V.Z. (2008): Tree of Life Web Project – Phengaris. Version of 2008-JAN-06. Retrieved 2009-OCT-04.
Savela, Markku (2006): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Phengaris. Version of 2006-MAR-12. Retrieved 2009-OCT-04.
Savela, Markku (2008): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Maculinea. Version of 2008-JUL-05. Retrieved 2009-OCT-04.