''Etesiolaus'' 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 ...
. The species of this genus are found in 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 ...
.
Taxonomy
The genus was previously treated as a subgenus of ''
Iolaus
In Greek mythology, Iolaus (; Ancient Greek: Ἰόλαος ''Iólāos'') was a Theban divine hero. He was famed for being Heracles' charioteer and squire, and for helping with some of his Labors, as well as for being one of the Argonauts.
Fa ...
'', but was raised to genus level by Collins et al. in 2003.
Species
*''
Etesiolaus catori''
(Bethune-Baker, 1904)
*''
Etesiolaus kyabobo''
(Larsen, 1996)
*''
Etesiolaus pinheyi''
Kielland, 1986
References
External links
"''Etesiolaus'' Stempffer & Bennett, 1959"at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
Iolaini
Lycaenidae genera
Taxa named by Henri Stempffer
{{Theclinae-stub