''Cooksonia'' is a genus of

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), 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 ...

first described by

Hamilton Herbert Druce Hamilton Herbert Charles James Druce (26 October 1866 – 21 June 1922) was an English entomologist who specialised in Lycaenidae and to a lesser extent Hesperiidae. He is not to be confused with his father, the English entomologist Herbert Dr ...

in 1905. ''Cooksonia'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

Etymology

The genus name honours Harold Cookson (1876-1969), a farmer and amateur zoologist who lived in Muden, Natal, and later in the Vumba Mountains in what was then

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

Species

*'' Cooksonia abri'' Collins & Larsen, 2008 *'' Cooksonia aliciae'' Talbot, 1935 *'' Cooksonia ginettae'' Collins & Larsen, 2008 *'' Cooksonia neavei'' (H. H. Druce, 1912) *'' Cooksonia trimeni'' H. H. Druce, 1905

References

Poritiinae Lycaenidae genera Taxa named by Hamilton Herbert Druce {{Poritiinae-stub