Maculinea

''Phengaris'' is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies in the subfamily Polyommatinae. Commonly, these butterflies are called large blues, which if referring to a particular species is '' P. arion'', a species resident in Europe and some parts of Asia.

''Phengaris'' is currently defined to include the genus ''Maculinea''. The type species of the latter was the Alcon blue (''"M." alcon''). This species was found to be less closely related to most other supposed members of ''Maculinea'' than the traditional ''Phengaris'' species, and hence the two genera were merged to form a monophyletic group. Alternatively, ''Maculinea'' could be restricted to the one or two species of "Alcon" blues, and the rest of it be separated as a new genus. But this would create two very small genera, which is generally avoided by modern taxonomists. As ''Phengaris'' is the older name, it thus replaces ''Maculinea''.Brower (2008)

''Maculinea'' was alternatively considered to be a subgenus of ''Glaucopsyche''. But while ''Glaucopsyche'' and ''Phengaris'' (including ''Maculinea'') are certainly close relatives, they are unlikely to be that close.

The most recently discovered species in the genus is '' P. xiushani'', first reported in 2010 and found in undisturbed forested mountains, unlike all the other members which live in grasslands over their entire range of distribution.

Species

The species, listed in the presumed phylogenetic sequence from the most ancestral to the most apomorphic, are:See Brower (2008) and the references in Savela (2006, 2008)

Basal group (''Maculinea sensu stricto'')
* '' Phengaris alcon'' – Alcon blue, Alcon large blue
** †'' Phengaris alcon arenaria'' – Dutch Alcon blue
* '' Phengaris rebeli'' – mountain Alcon blue (may belong in ''P. alcon'')

''Phengaris sensu stricto''
* '' Phengaris daitozana'' (Wileman, 1908)
* '' Phengaris albida'' (Leech, 1893)
* '' Phengaris atroguttata'' – great spotted blue
* '' Phengaris xiushani'' Wang & Settele, 2010 – Xiushan's large blue

Other ''"Maculinea"''
* '' Phengaris kurentzovi'' (Sibatani, Saigusa & Hirowatari, 1994)
** ''Phengaris kurentzovi kurentzovi'' northern China and Korea
** ''Phengaris kurentzovi daurica'' Dubatolov, 1999 Transbaikalia
* '' Phengaris nausithous'' – dusky large blue
* '' Phengaris ogumae'' (Matsumura, 1910) (tentatively placed here)
** ''Phengaris ogumae ogumae'' Japan
** ''Phengaris ogumae doii'' (Matsumura, 1928) Kuriles
* '' Phengaris teleius'' – scarce large blue
* '' Phengaris cyanecula'' (Eversmann, 1848)
** ''Phengaris cyanecula cyanecula'' Mongolia
** ''Phengaris cyanecula obscurior'' (Staudinger, 1901) Tian-Shan
** ''Phengaris cyanecula taras'' (Fruhstorfer, 1915) Alay Mountains
** ''Phengaris cyanecula ussuriensis'' (Sheljuzhko, 1928) Amur Oblast, Ussuri
* '' Phengaris arion'' – large blue
* '' Phengaris ligurica'' (Wagner, 1904) (may belong in ''P. arion'')
* '' Phengaris takamukui''
* '' Phengaris arionides'' – greater large blue

''Incertae sedis''
* '' Phengaris xiaheana'' (Murayama, 1919)

Footnotes

References

* (2008): Tree of Life Web Project &ndash
''Phengaris''
Version of 2008-JAN-06. Retrieved 2009-OCT-04.
* (2006): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash

Version of 2006-MAR-12. Retrieved 2009-OCT-04.
* (2008): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash

Version of 2008-JUL-05. Retrieved 2009-OCT-04.

External links

Images representing ''Phengaris''
at Consortium for the Barcode of Life

{{Taxonbar, from=Q48406

Lycaenidae genera
Taxa named by William Doherty