''Castalius'' is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly ...

. They are commonly known as Pierrots. This name is also often used for the very closely related genus ''

Tarucus ''Tarucus'' is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as blue Pierrots or simply Pierrots. The latter name is often used for the closely related genus ''Castalius''. The delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus' ...

''. 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

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n species formerly placed in ''Castalius'' are now in ''

Tuxentius ''Tuxentius'' is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as pied Pierrots or pies. Contained in this genus are the African species formerly placed in ''Castalius'', except the blue-eyed Pierrot (sometimes called blue p ...

'' (pied Pierrots) and ''

Zintha ''Zintha'' is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. It is monotypic, with the only species being ''Zintha hintza'', the blue-eyed Pierrot, blue pied Pierrot or Hintza blue. The pied Pierrots proper are the closely related genus ''Tuxentius' ...

'' (blue-eyed Pierrot), which are also very close relatives (in particular the former).

Species

Only four

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

are placed in ''Castalius'' nowadays. But as noted above, it may be that ''Tarucus'' and the present genus are eventually regarded as

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

ous. In that case, the older name ''Castalius'' would again apply to the two dozen species in question.Brower (2008), and see references in Savela (2009) * '' Castalius clathratus'' (Holland,

891 Year 891 ( DCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 21 – Guy III, duke of Spoleto, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Ste ...

Celebes * ''

Castalius fasciatus ''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''. In fact, the delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus'' is not y ...

'' (Röber, 1887) Celebes * '' Castalius fluvialis'' (Grose-Smith, 1895) Celebes * '' Castalius rosimon'' (Fabricius, 1775) – common Pierrot

Footnotes

References

* (2008):

Tree of Life Web Project The Tree of Life Web Project is an Internet project providing information about the diversity and phylogeny of life on Earth. This collaborative peer reviewed project began in 1995, and is written by biologists from around the world. The site ...

&ndash
''Castalius'' Hübner 1819. Pierrots
Version of 19 May 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2009. * (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash

Version of 30 March 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2009. Lycaenidae genera {{Polyommatini-stub