''Euschemon rafflesia'', the regent skipper, is a butterfly in the skipper family,

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

. It is found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and is the only member of its genus, ''Euschemon'', and

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

, Euschemoninae.Brower & Warren (2009)

Taxonomy

It was formerly often included in the tribe Tagiadini of the

of spread-winged skippers, Pyrginae. However, it seems to be the single most distinct living skipper butterfly. Consequently, it is treated as a monotypic subfamily Euschemoninae, as was first proposed by William Forsell Kirby as early as 1897.

Synonyms

The regent skipper, in addition to the

systematic Systematic may refer to: Science * Short for systematic error * Systematic fault * Systematic bias, errors that are not determined by chance but are introduced by an inaccuracy (involving either the observation or measurement process) inheren ...

uncertainties that have surrounded it for long, is a rather variable species. Consequently, it has been treated under a variety of names, which are nowadays considered

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

s. For example: * ''Euschemon alba'' Mabille, 903/small> * ''Euschemon alboornatus'' Olliff, 1891 * ''Euschemon viridis'' Waterhouse, 1932 * ''Exometoeca rafflesia'' (Macleay, 827 * ''Hesperia rafflesia'' Macleay, 827/small> William Sharp Macleay named the butterfly after Sir Stamford Raffles "to whose scientific ardour and indefatigable exertions in Java and Sumatra, every naturalist must feel himself indebted."

Description

The regent skipper is quite small relative to most butterflies, however, it is large relative to most species in the family Hesperiidae. Its common name refers to the gaudy coloration; mostly black with conspicuous yellow and red dots and bands. A notable trait of this butterfly are the males' frenulum and retinaculum which couple the fore- and hindwing together in flight. This structure is presumably plesiomorphic for most or all Macrolepidoptera, but is absent in all known Rhopalocera (butterflies) except the regent skipper and the Hedylidae ( moth-butterflies).

References

* (2009): Tree of Life Web Project &ndash
Euschemoninae
Version of 2009-JUN-11. Retrieved 2009-DEC-24. * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1796936 Butterflies of Australia Hesperiidae Monotypic butterfly genera Hesperiidae genera