The butterfly subtribe Euptychiina (

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

: Nymphalidae) is a diverse group within the tribe Satyrini, occurring throughout

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and South America, in addition to a few species known from North America. Euptychiina is a predominantly lowland group, with the exception of one Asian taxon ''

Palaeonympha opalina ''Palaeonympha'' is a monotypic butterfly genus of the subfamily Satyrinae in the family Nymphalidae. Its one species, ''Palaeonympha opalina'', is found in Taiwan

'' Butler, 1871 and the Andean genus ''

Forsterinaria ''Forsterinaria'' is a genus of satyrid butterflies found in the Neotropical realm. Species Listed alphabetically:

Euptychiina

Despite its members being common, this subtribe has been a challenging subject for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies for many years because of their dull coloration, intraspecific variation, lack of clear morphological characters, and morphological homogeneity. However, with the exception of pioneering work by W. Forster and L. D. Miller, the group received little attention from butterfly researchers until recently due to their typically dull brownish coloration. Currently, 50 genera and over 400 described species are recognized within this subtribe, but the group is estimated to contain over 500 species in 70 genera. The current classification of Euptychiina is based on the Lamas checklist, who retained and reorganized many of the genera erected by Forster. Forster described 33 euptychiine genera that are now widely accepted, but since he erected these genera without testing monophyly and

synapomorphies In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

, many of his genera have been recovered as polyphyletic or

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

in recent molecular phylogenetic studies. Euptychiine phylogeny

History of classification

A. Butler was probably the first to propose a systematic classification for many euptychiine taxa, excluding species now in the "''

Taygetis ''Taygetis'' is a genus of satyrid butterflies found in the Neotropical realm. Taxonomy and evolution The genus appeared as polyphyletic,, 2013: Systematics and evolutionary history of butterflies in the “''Taygetis'' clade” (Nymphalidae: S ...

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

". In his monograph of ''

Euptychia ''Euptychia'' is a genus of satyrid butterflies found in the Neotropical realm. The genus was erected by Jacob Hübner Jacob Hübner (20 June 1761 – 13 September 1826, in Augsburg) was a German entomologist. He was the author of ''Sammlung E ...

'' (then used as a catch-all genus to include most euptychiine species), Butler divided the genus into seven groups (Division I to VII). Subsequently, Butler proposed an updated classification for the group and recognized 27 "species groups" within ''Euptychia sensu'' Butler (1867). G. Weymer recognized 29 "species group" within ''Euptychia sensu'' Butler, in addition to treating ''

'' and ''

Amphidecta ''Amphidecta'' is a genus of satyrid butterfly found in the Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of t ...

'' in his monograph of Satyridae in the "Macrolepidoptera of the American Faunistic region" by A. Seitz. Based on Weymer (1911)'s classification, Forster (1964) introduced 33 euptychiine genera and his classification is largely retained in Lamas (2004), a work considered as a vital foundation regarding Neotropical butterfly classification. The recent years have seen an explosion of interest in euptychiine systematics, resulting in many changes in generic classification of the group as well as improvement in our understanding of its species diversity. Although the subtribal name was first introduced by L. D. Miller when he treated Euptychiina as a tribal level taxon "Euptychiini", the genus ''Euptychia'' Hübner, 1818 was historically used to place many euptychiine species now no longer classified in that genus, perhaps explaining why the generic name ''Euptychia'' was used in a much broader sense to include many other euptychiine species. Consequently, Forster included this name "''Euptychia''" as part of new generic names he described, a trend also followed when the new generic name '' Atlanteuptychia'' was introduced for ''

Euptychia ernestina ''Euptychia'' is a genus of satyrid butterflies found in the Neotropical realm. The genus was erected by Jacob Hübner Jacob Hübner (20 June 1761 – 13 September 1826, in Augsburg) was a German entomologist. He was the author of ''Sammlung E ...

'' Weymer, 1911. However, other recently described euptychiine genera do not follow this trend (references above).

Biology

There exist detailed early stage biology (i.e. complete life cycle documented) information for 30 euptychiine species.See, J., Nakahara, S., Gallice, G. 2018 Immature stages of ''Splendeuptychia quadrina'' (Butler, 1869) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae)''. Tropical Lepidoptera Research'', 28 (2): 49–53. Larva of euptychiine species often lack body scoli and possessing short head scoli and caudal filaments, but there exist some variation. Hostplant records are known for approximately 100 species, those records are mainly grass and bamboo species, although the genus ''Euptychia'' is known to feed on

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es and lycopsids.Brévignon, C. 2008. Inventaire des Satyrinae de Guyane Française (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), pp. 62-94. In: Lacomme, D., Manil, L. (Eds.),''Lépidoptères de Guyane, Tome 3, Rhopalocères 2.'' Paris, Lepidopteristes de France.

Generic classification and species accounts (as of February 2019)

References

{{Taxonbar , from=Q3060492 Lepidoptera subtribes