Lithopsyche Styx
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''Lithopsyche'' is a genus of fossil
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 ...
known from
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
-aged strata of the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
, England. The sole specimen is too incomplete to allow a certain assignment of a
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
, but it was placed on its description as a
geometrid The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek (derivative form of or "the earth"), and "measure" in referen ...
and more recently in the
Riodininae __NOTOC__ Riodininae is the largest of the three subfamilies within the metalmark butterfly family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by ma ...
. The late
Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
-aged ''
Lithodryas styx ''Lithodryas'' is a prehistoric genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It was introduced as a replacement for Samuel Hubbard Scudder's genus ''Lithopsyche'', which is invalid as a homonym, as another fossil lepidopteran genus had been de ...
'', of
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, was originally described with the same genus name.


References

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A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...
Monotypic butterfly genera Fossil taxa described in 1889 Taxa named by Arthur Gardiner Butler Monotypic prehistoric insect genera Oligocene insects of Europe {{paleo-Lepidoptera-stub