Pseudopontia

Pseudopontia paradoxa
Pseudopontia depicted in Seitz Fauna Africana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pieridae
Subfamily: Pseudopontiinae
Reuter, 1896
Genus: Pseudopontia
Plötz, 1870
Synonyms
  • Globiceps C. & R. Felder, 1869
  • Gonophlebia C. & R. Felder, 1870

Pseudopontia is a genus of butterflies found only in wet forests of tropical Africa. It is the only genus in the subfamily Pseudopontiinae. It was traditionally thought to contain only one species (monotypic), Pseudopontia paradoxa. However, a recent study showed there are at least five species of Pseudopontia which can be distinguished genetically and by details of wing veins. Each is found primarily in a different part of Africa, though several of the species have overlapping geographic distributions.

It is considered paradoxical because, despite being a true butterfly (Papilionoidea), its antennae do not have the characteristic clubbed ends which are otherwise diagnostic of butterflies (Rhopalocera).

Species

References

External links


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