Castalius

Castalius is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as Pierrots. This name is also often used for the very closely related genus Tarucus.

Castalius
Common pierrot (Castalius rosimon)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Polyommatinae
Tribe: Polyommatini
Genus: Castalius
Hübner, 1819
Type species
Papilio rosimon
Fabricius, 1775
Diversity
Four species (but see text)

In fact, the delimitation of Castalius versus Tarucus is not yet fully resolved, with some species, such as the dark Pierrot (T. ananda), having been moved between the two genera repeatedly. Regardless of how this may turn out, the African species formerly placed in Castalius are now in Tuxentius (pied Pierrots) and Zintha (blue-eyed Pierrot), which are also very close relatives (in particular the former).

Species

Only four species are placed in Castalius nowadays. But as noted above, it may be that Tarucus and the present genus are eventually regarded as synonymous. In that case, the older name Castalius would again apply to the two dozen species in question.[1]

  • Castalius clathratus (Holland, [1891]) Celebes
  • Castalius fasciatus (Röber, 1887) Celebes
  • Castalius fluvialis (Grose-Smith, 1895) Celebes
  • Castalius rosimon (Fabricius, 1775) – common Pierrot

Footnotes
  1. Brower (2008), and see references in Savela (2009)
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References

Media related to Castalius at Wikimedia Commons

  • Brower, Andrew V.Z. (2008): Tree of Life Web Project – Castalius Hübner 1819. Pierrots. Version of 19 May 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  • Savela, Markku (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Castalius. Version of 30 March 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2009.


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