Lycaena

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: Lycaenidae
Subfamilia: Lycaeninae
Genus: Lycaena
Subgenera: L. (Epidemia) – L. (Phoenicurusia)

Species: L. aeolus – L. alciphron – L. aditya – L. alpherakii – L. athamantis – L. boldenarum – L. candens – L. dispar – L. dorcas – L. editha – L. feredayi – L. helle – L. hippothoe – L. kasyapa – L. margelanica – L. ochimus – L. otbayar – L. ouang – L. phlaeas – L. ratushinskayae – L. rauparaha – L. rubidus – L. salustius – L. thersamon – L. tityrus – L. tseng – L. virgaureae
Name

Lycaena Fabricius, 1807: 285.

Type species: Papilio phlaeas Linnaeus, 1761, by selection of Curtis, 1828: Pl.8 text fig..
Synonymy

(alphabetic)

Alciphronia Koçak, 1992 (Originally described as a subgenus of Heodes Dalman, 1816).
Antipodolycaena Smart, 1975 [as subgenus of Lycaena]. Type species: Lycaena boldenarum White, 1862
Boldenaria Zhdanko, 1995. Type species: Lycaena boldenarum White, 1862, by original designation.
Chalceria Scudder 1876: 125. Type species by original designation: Chrysophanus rubidus Behr 1866: 208.
Chysoptera Zincken 1817: 75. Type species by selection of Tutt, 1906: 131: Papilio virgaureae Linnaeus, 1758: 484.
Chrysoptera [sic] Tutt, 1906: 131. Incorrect subsequent spelling of Chysoptera, Zincken.
Chrysophanus Hübner 1818: 18. Type species by selection of Riley, 1922: 457: Chrysophanus mopsus Hübner, 1818: 24.
Disparia Verity 1943: 21, 58. Type species by original designation: Papilio dispar Haworth, 1802: 3 et nota.
Epidemia Boisduval 1876: 127. Type species by original designation: Polyommatus epixanthe Boisduval & Leconte, [1833]: 127.
Gaiedes Scudder 1876: 126. Type species by original designation: Chrysophanus dione Scudder, 1869: 330.
Helleia Verity 1943: 20, 48. Type species by original designation: Papilio helle Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775: 181.
Heodes Dalman 1816: 63. Type species by monotypy: Papilio virgaureae Linnaeus, 1758: 484.
Hermelycaena L.D. Miller & F.M. Brown 1979
Hyllolycaena L.D. Miller & F.M. Brown 1979
Loweia Tutt 1906: 314. Type species by original designation: Papilio dorilis Hüfnagel, 1766: 68.
Lycia Sodoffsky 1837: 81. Type species through Section (i) of Article 67 (replacement names): Papilio phlaeas Linnaeus, 1761: 285.
Migonitis Sodoffsky 1837: 82. Type species through Section (i) of Article 67 (replacement names): Papilio phlaeas Linnaeus, 1761: 285.
Mirzakhania Koçak, 1996
Palaeochrysophanus Verity 1943: 23, 64. Type species: Papilio hippothoe Linnaeus, 1761: 274.
Palaeoloweia Verity 1934: Suppl. (13) nota. Type species through Section (i) of Article 67 (replacement names): Papilio dorilis Hüfnagel, 1766: 68.
Phoenicurusia Verity, 1943. Le Farfalle diurn. d'Italia 2: 21, TS: Polyommatus margelanica Staudinger [Polyommatus phoenicurus, Lederer, misid. type]
Rapsidia Sibatani 1974
Rumicia Tutt 1906: 131. Type species by original designation: Papilio phlaeas Linnaeus, 1761: 285.
Sarthusia Verity, 1943. Le Farfalle diurn. d'Italia 2: 20. TS: Polyommatus sarthus Staudinger, 1886: 202.
Tharsalea Scudder 1876: 125. Type species by original designation: Polyommatus arota Boisduval, 1852: 293.
Thersamonia Verity 1919: 28. Type species by original designation: Papilio thersamon Esper, 1784: 176.
Thersamolycaena Verity 1957

References

Austin, G.T., 1984: A new subspecies of Lycaena editha (Mead) (Lycaenidae) from Nevada. Journal on Research on the Lepidoptera 23 (1): 83–88. Full article: [1].
Charmeux, J.F. & J.M. Desse 2006. Bilan de huit séjours au Pakistan et description de Cupido nagarensis sp. nova et de Palasa gohlshali sp. nova. Bulletin des Lépidoptéristes Parisiens 14(35): 81–136. Reference page.
Churkin, S.V. 2004. Taxonomic notes on Thersamolycaena Verity, 1957 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae), with the description of a new species. Helios 5: 75–90. Reference page.
Churkin, S.V. & Kolesnichenko, K.A. 2019. A new species of Lycaena Fabricius, 1807 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from Mongolia with a review of genitalia characters of the related taxa. Zootaxa 4555(4): 548–560. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4555.4.6. Reference page.
Eckweiler, W. 2004. Lycaena (Phoenicurusia) phoenicurus monalisa ssp. n. (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo NF 25(3): 104. Reference page.
Fabricius, J.C. 1807. In Illiger, J. K. W. Magazin für insektenkunde 6: 279–289. BHL. Reference page.
Huang, R.-X. & Murayama, S.-i. 1992. Butterflies of Xinjiang Province, China. Tyô to Ga 43(1): 1–22. Full article (PDF). Reference page.
Korb, S.K. 2012. New data on the systematic and distribution of butterflies of Middle Asia with some notes on its faunagenesis (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). Eversmannia, 29-30: 8–14. [In Russian]. PDF. Reference page.
Krupitsky, A.V. 2017. On the type species of the genus Phoenicurusia Verity, 1943 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Lycaeninae). Zootaxa 4306(1): 137–139. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4306.1.9. Reference page.
Olivier, A., 1999. On the publication dates of "Versuch einer Monographie der europaischen Schmetterlingsarten: Thecla, Plyomattus [sic], Lycaena, Nemeobius. Als Beitrag zur Schmetterlingskunde by Paul Bernhard Gerhard (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Phegea 27(4):127- 140.BHL. Reference page.
Smart, P.E. 1975. The international butterfly book. N.Y.: Thomas C. Crowell. Reference page.
Talavera, G., Lukhtanov, V.A., Pierce, N.E. & Vila, R., 2013. Establishing criteria for higher-level classification using molecular data: the systematics of Polyommatus blue butterflies (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae). Cladistics 29(2): 166–192. DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2012.00421.x Reference page.
Wakahara, H., Miyamoto, T. & Nakamura, N. 2008. Notes on the butterflies of Laos (III): Discovery and description of a new subspecies of Helleia tseng (Oberthür, 1886) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from central Laos. Butterflies (Teinopalpus) 50: 42–49. Reference page.
Zhdanko, A.B. 1993. Systematics and distribution of lycaenids of the genus Thersamonolycaena. (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae). Entomological Review 72(1): 134–142. Reference page.
Zhdanko, A.B. 1995: [On the systematics of the genera Lycaena F. and Heliophorus Geyer (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae).] Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 74(3): 652-661. [in Russian, English translation in Entomological review 75(9): 1-11. (1996)] Reference page.

Vernacular names
日本語: ベニシジミ属

Lycaena is a butterfly genus. The genus range is Holarctic, with the exception of four species found in New Zealand, two in South Africa, one in New Guinea and one in Java. It is commonly divided into several subgenera, such as Antipodolycaena. Many formerly independent genera are now subsumed within Lycaena; the genus Gaiedes may also belong here. Many of the subgenera, species groups and species listed here may be synonyms.
Species

Listed alphabetically within groups:[1][failed verification]

Subgenus Tharsalea Scudder, 1876:

Lycaena arota (Boisduval, 1852) – tailed copper

Subgenus Chalceria Scudder, 1876:
The thaeides species group:

Lycaena dione (Scudder, 1868)
Lycaena editha (Mead, 1878) – Edith's copper California, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada
Lycaena gorgon (Boisduval, 1852) – gorgon copper Nevada, California, Oregon
Lycaena xanthoides (Boisduval, 1852) – great gray copper California

The chalceria species group:

Lycaena ferrisi Johnson & Balogh, 1977 – Ferris' copper Arizona
Lycaena heteronea Boisduval, 1858 – blue copper
Lycaena rubidus (Behr, 1866) – ruddy copper

Subgenus Epidemia Scudder, 1876:
The hyllolycaena species group:

Lycaena hyllus (Cramer, [1775]) – bronze copper

The epidemia species group:

Lycaena dorcas Kirby, 1837 – dorcas copper or cinquefoil copper
Lycaena dospassosi McDunnough, 1940
Lycaena epixanthe (Boisduval & Leconte, [1835]) – bog copper, cranberry-bog copper
Lycaena helloides (Boisduval, 1852) – purplish copper
Lycaena nivalis (Boisduval, 1869) – nivalis copper
Lycaena mariposa (Reakirt, 1866) – mariposa copper

Subgenus Hermelycaena Miller & Brown, 1979:

Lycaena hermes (Edwards, 1870) – Hermes copper

Subgenus Antipodolycaena Smart, 1975:

Lycaena boldenarum White, 1862 New Zealand
Lycaena feredayi (Bates, 1867) – glade copper
Lycaena rauparaha (Fereday, 1877) New Zealand
Lycaena salustius (Fabricius, 1793) – common copper

Unnamed subgenus:
The heodes species group:

Lycaena ottomanus (Lefèbvre, 1830) – Grecian copper
Lycaena tityrus (Poda, 1761) – sooty copper
Lycaena virgaureae (Linnaeus, 1758) – scarce copper

The palaeochrysophanus species group:

Lycaena candens (Herrich-Schäffer, [1844]) South Europe, Caucasus, Transcaucasia
Lycaena hippothoe (Linnaeus, 1761) – purple-edged copper

Subgenus Lycaena Fabricius, 1807:
The helle species group:

Lycaena helle ([Schiffermüller], 1775) – violet copper
Lycaena irmae Bailey, 1932 South Tibet
Lycaena li (Oberthür, 1886) West China
Lycaena ouang (Oberthür, 1891) Yunnan
Lycaena pang (Oberthür, 1886) West China, Tibet
Lycaena svenhedini (Nordström, 1935) China
Lycaena tseng (Oberthür, 1886) North Burma to West China

The phlaeas species group:

Lycaena cupreus (Edwards, 1870) – lustrous copper
Lycaena kiyokoae Sakai, 1978 Afghanistan
Lycaena phlaeas (Linnaeus, 1761) – small copper, common copper, American copper
Lycaena sichuanica Bozano & Weidenhoffer, 2001

The thersamolycaena species group:

Lycaena aeolus Wyatt, 1961 West Pamirs, Afghanistan
Lycaena aeolides (Churkin, 1999) Gissar Range, Central Asia
Lycaena alciphron (Rottemburg, 1775) – purple-shot copper
Lycaena dispar (Haworth, 1802) – large copper
Lycaena splendens (Staudinger, 1881) Dzhungarsky Alatau, Tian-Shan (Central Asia)
Lycaena violaceus (Staudinger, 1892)

The thersamonia species group:

Lycaena aditya (Moore, [1875]) West Pamirs, Afghanistan, Pakistan, North India
Lycaena alaica (Grum-Grshimailo, 1888) Pamirs-Alai, Gissar Range, North east Afghanistan
Lycaena alpherakyi (Grum-Grshimailo, 1888) East Pamirs, Northwest China
Lycaena attila (Zhdanko, 1990) Zaalaisky Mountains (Trans-Ili Alatau) Central Asia
Lycaena asabinus (Herrich-Schäffer, [1851]) Turkey, Transcaucasia, Iran, Armenia
Lycaena hyrcana (Neuburger, 1903) North Iran to Central Asia
Lycaena kurdistanica (Riley, 1921) Armenia, Northeast Turkey, West Iran
Lycaena lampon Lederer, [1870] Kopet-Dagh, Southeast Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan
Lycaena ochimus (Herrich-Schäffer, [1851]) Transcaucasia, Armenia, Caucasus Minor, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Talysh Mountains (Iran - Azerbaijan)
Lycaena phoebus (Blachier, 1905) – Moroccan copper Morocco
Lycaena solskyi Erschoff, 1874 Pamirs to Alay Mountains, Gissar Range, Darvaz Range, Tian-Shan, Kashmir, Samarkand
Lycaena thersamon (Esper, 1784) – lesser fiery copper
Lycaena thetis Klug, 1834 – fiery copper or golden copper

The phoenicurusia species group:

Lycaena margelanica (Staudinger, 1881) South Tajikistan to Tien-Shan, Gissar Range, Darvaz, Alay, West Pamir, Babatag, Karatau, Teriklitau, Rangontau, Zailiisky Alatau, Lake Issyk-Kul mountains

The hyrcanana species group:

Lycaena caspius (Lederer, 1869) Kopet-Dagh, Gissar Range, North Iran, Afghanistan
Lycaena ophion Hemming, 1933 Kopet-Dagh, Gissar Range to Darvaz Tadzhikistan
Lycaena pamira (Nekrutenko, 1983)
Lycaena sartha (Staudinger, 1886) Gissar Range to Darvaz, Pamirs to Alay mountains, Northeast Afghanistan
Lycaena sultan (Lang, 1884) West Gissar Range (Zeravshansky, Ghissarsky, Baisuntau, Fanskie)

Unknown species group:

Lycaena bathinia Snellen, 1899 dubious Java
Lycaena clarki Dickson, 1971 – eastern sorrel copper
Lycaena evansii (de Nicéville, 1902) Kashmir, Chitral
Lycaena kasyapa (Moore, 1865) – green copper
Lycaena orus (Stoll, [1780]) – western sorrel copper
Lycaena ottomanus (Lefèbvre, 1830)
Lycaena pallida Miskin, 1891 New Guinea
Lycaena panava (Westwood, 1852)
Lycaena pavana (Kollar, [1844]) – white-bordered copper North India
Lycaena standfussi (Grum-Grshimailo, 1891) West China, Tibet
Lycaena susanus (Swinhoe, 1889) Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan
Lycaena tityrus Poda, 1761 – sooty copper
Lycaena virgaureae (Linnaeus, 1758) – scarce copper
Lycaena zariaspa (Moore, 1874) West Himalayas, Kashmir, Northwest India

References

Lycaena, funet.fi