Cyclargus

Cyclargus
C. a. erembis male
Both on Grand Cayman
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Cyclargus
Nabokov, 1948

Cyclargus is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It was split off from the genus Hemiargus in 1948 by Vladimir Nabokov, although many lepidopterists have not accepted the new genus as valid. Nabokov designated C. ammon (Lucas's blue, from Cuba) as the type species for the genus, and included C. dominica (Jamaican blue, from Jamaica), C. thomasi (Thomas's blue, from Florida, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola), C. woodruffi (from the Virgin Islands) and C. erembis (from the Cayman Islands, synonym of C. ammon erembis). In 1992 K. Johnston and Matusik described C. sorpresus and C. kathleena, both from Hispaniola.

The critically endangered Miami blue (C. thomasi bethunebakeri) is a member of the genus.

C. a. erembis was described originally as a full species, as opinion is at present divided as to whether or not this might be its status.[1]

References

  1. ↑ R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford, Butterflies of the Cayman Islands (Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2008) ISBN 978-87-88757-85-9, pp. 84-85


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.