Alesa

Life-forms

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: Riodinidae
Subfamilia: Riodininae
Tribus: Eurybiini
SubTribe: Eurybiina
Genus: Alesa
Species: A. amesis – A. amethystina – A. beneluzi – A. esmeralda – A. fournierae – A. hemiurga – A. humilis – A. lipara – A. prema – A. rothschildi – A. suzana – A. telephae – A. thelydrias
Name

Alesa Doubleday, 1847: 1.

Type species: Erycina prema Godart, 1824: 569, by selection of Scudder, 1875: 107.
Synonyms

Mimocastnia Seitz, [1917]: 652.

References

Bates, H.W. 1868. A Catalogue of Erycinidae, a Family of Diurnal Lepidoptera. Journal of the Linnean Society of London 9: 367-459. BHL. Reference page.
Brévignon, C., 2015b: Un nouvel Eurybiini du genre Alesa de Guyane française (Lepidoptera, Riodinidae). Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, 120(4): 453–456.Reference page.
Doubleday, E. 1847. List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum, Part 2, London. BHL Reference page.
Gallard, J.Y. & Fernandez, S. 2015. Deux nouvelles espèces du genre Alesa découvertes en Guyane française (Lepidoptera, Riodinidae, Eurybiini). Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, 120(2): 135–142. Reference page.
Godart, J. B. 1819–1824. In Latreille & Godart, Encyclopedie méthodique. Histoire naturelle des Crustacés, des Arachnides et des Insectes 9 (article Papillons) (1): 1–328; (2): 329-828. Paris. Reference page.
Hall & Ahrenholz, 2010: A new species of Alesa (Riodinidae: Eurybiini) from eastern Ecuador. Tropical Lepidoptera Research 20 (1): 19–22.
Lamas, G. 2004. (ed.) Checklist: Part 4A. Hesperioidea - Papilionoidea. In Heppner, J.B. (ed.) Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Vol. 5A. Association for Tropical Lepidoptera/Scientific Publishers, Gainesville. 439p. Reference page.
Salazar, E, J.A. & Constantino, L.M., 2007: New species of (Lepidoptera: Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae, Ithomiinae, Riodinidae) in Colombia. Boletín Científico Museo de Historia Natural de Caldas, 11 (1): 167–186. Full article: [1]
Scudder, S.H. 1875. Historical sketch of the generic names proposed for butterflies. Proc. amer. Soc. Arts Sci. Boston 10: 91–293. BHL Reference page.
Seitz, A. 1910–1924. Die Amerikanischen Tagfalter. in Grossschmettelinge Erde 5: 3–1139, pls 1–194. Alfred Kernan, Stuttgart. Reference page.

Alesa is a New World (Neotropical realm) genus of metalmark butterflies found in northern South America.

This genus is distinguished by a vast sexual dimorphism receding somewhat only in one species. The body is slender, the head is broad and slanting, with a flat forehead and closely appressed (flattened) short palpi. The antennae are very long, only slightly thickened at their ends. The abdomen is long, in the male thin, in the female stout, but likewise stretched. The forewings are long with a very oblique distal margin. The hindwings are round, especially in the female. Cells of all the wings closed, the upper radial originates with the 3rd subcostal vein from the same place. Colouring of the females earthy brown, that of the males varying, but with a metallic lustre.[1]
Species

Listed alphabetically:[2]

Alesa amesis (Cramer, 1777) – Amesis metalmark – present in French Guiana, Ecuador, Guyana, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Peru.
Alesa fournierae Lathy, 1958 present in Brazil.
Alesa hemiurga Bates, 1867 – hemiurga metalmark – present in Brazil.
Alesa lipara Bates, 1867 – Lipara metalmark – present in Brazil.
Alesa prema (Godart, [1824]) – Prema metalmark – present in Colombia, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. Male of a magnificent emerald green, in another light of a deep blue reflection, with black markings. Female similar to A. telephae, larger, the eyespots of the hindwings and some spots near the base of the forewing with metallic pupils.
Alesa rothschildi (Seitz, [1917]) present in French Guiana and Guyana. Male above with a black lattice-like marking, with golden-green spots, the marginal spots guttiform (shaped like a drop). Female above black except the distal half of the forewing in which there is a white oblique band, and the margin of the hindwing of a blue gloss.
Alesa telephae (Boisduval, 1836) – Telephae metalmark – present in French Guiana and Brazil.
Alesa thelydrias Bates, 1867 present in Brazil.

References

Seitz, A., 1916. Family:Erycinidae. In A. Seitz (editor), Macrolepidoptera of the world, vol. 5: 617–738. Stuttgart: Alfred Kernen.[1] also available as pdf
Alesa, funet.fu