Melitaeini

Melitaeini
Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
(unranked): Rhopalocera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Nymphalinae
Tribe: Melitaeini
Newman, 1870
Genera

Numerous, see text

Synonyms

Melitaeinae

Melitaeini are a group of brush-footed butterflies. Usually classified as a tribe of the Nymphalinae, they are sometimes raised to subfamily status as Melitaeinae. Common names include the highly ambiguous "fritillaries" (also used for some Heliconiinae), checkerspots, crescents, or crescentspots, and some genus-specific names.

Genera

The 20–25 genera of Melitaeini are divided among 5 subtribes; some species are also listed. The subtribes, in the presumed phylogenetic sequence, are:[1]

Subtribe Euphydryina

Subtribe Melitaeina

  • Melitaea "fritillaries" (including Didymaeformis, Mellicta)

Subtribe Chlosynina

Subtribe Gnathotrichina

Subtribe Phyciodina

Footnotes

  1. See references in Savela (2010)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melitaeini.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 01, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.