Tarucus

Tarucus
Rounded Pierrot (Tarucus nara) female on Zizyphus sp.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Subfamily:	Polyommatinae
Tribe:	Polyommatini
Genus:	Tarucus Moore, 1881
Type species
Hesperia theophrastus Fabricius, 1793
Diversity
About 20 species (but see text)

Tarucus is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as blue pierrots or simply "pierrots". But the latter name is often used for the very closely related genus Castalius. 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. It may even be that they are eventually regarded as synonymous, and in that case the older name Castalius would supersede Tarucus.

Several species formerly in Tarucus have recently been moved to Leptotes, another closely related lineage (though not quite as close as Castalius).

The caterpillars of this genus typically feed on Zizyphus and are attended by ants.

Species

The genus can be divided in two distinct groups. These are generally separated geographically, but some taxa (such as the Black-spotted Pierrot, T. balkanicus nigra), though assigned to one group, occur in the range of the other. Consequently, it is not quite clear whether the groups are clades or merely convenient but paraphyletic assemblages:^[1]

Afrotropical group:

• Tarucus balkanicus – Balkan Pierrot, Little Tiger Blue
  • Tarucus balkanicus nigra – Black-spotted Pierrot
• Tarucus bowkeri (Trimen, 1883)
• Tarucus grammicus (Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1893) – Black Pierrot
• Tarucus kiki Larsen, 1976
• Tarucus kulala Evans, 1955 – Turkana Pierrot
• Tarucus legrasi Stempffer, 1944 – Le Gras' Pierrot
• Tarucus quadratus Ogilvie-Grant, 1899
• Tarucus rosacea (Austaut, 1885) – Mediterranean Tiger Blue, Mediterranean Pierrot
• Tarucus sybaris (Hopffer, 1855)
• Tarucus theophrastus – Pointed Pierrot, African Pierrot, Common Tiger Blue
• Tarucus thespis (Linnaeus, 1764)
• Tarucus ungemachi Stempffer, 1944 – Ungemach's Pierrot

South Asian group:

• Tarucus alteratus – Rusty Pierrot
• Tarucus ananda – Dark Pierrot
• Tarucus callinara – Spotted Pierrot
• Tarucus extricatus – Rounded Pierrot
• Tarucus indica
• Tarucus nara – Striped Pierrot
• Tarucus venosus – Veined Pierrot, Himalayan Pierrot
• Tarucus waterstradti Druce, 1895
  • Tarucus waterstradti dharta – Assam Pierrot

Footnotes

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

References

• Brower, Andrew V.Z. (2008): Tree of Life Web Project – Tarucus Moore 1881. The Blue Pierrots. Version of 2008-MAY-19. Retrieved 2009-NOV-29.
• Savela, Markku (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Tarucus. Version of 2009-AUG-15. Retrieved 2009-NOV-29.
• Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 74 et prae