The Luciini are a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

. It includes 22

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in 4

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and is restricted to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

Genera

As of 2025, the tribe Luciini has, following studies in 2023 and reclassifications of the previously-included genera ''

Hypochrysops ''Hypochrysops'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae first described by Cajetan Felder and Rudolf Felder in 1860. This particular genus is exclusive to the Australian area with only a few species straying into Papua New Guinea. ...

'', ''

Titea ''Titea'' is a genus of butterflies 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 c ...

'' and ''

Philiris ''Philiris'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. The species of this genus are found in the Australasian realm (New Guinea, Bismarck Islands, Molucca Islands and eastern Australia, predominantly in Queensland), mostly inhabiting ...

'', been relegated to four genera: * ''

Acrodipsas ''Acrodipsas'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. There are ten species in this genus all endemic to the Australasian realm The Australasian realm is one of eight biogeographic realms that is coincident with, but not (by som ...

'' * '' Lucia'' * ''

Paralucia ''Paralucia'' is a genus of butterflies endemic to Australia and belonging to the family Lycaenidae. The caterpillars feed on ''Bursaria'' and sometimes ''Pittosporum ''Pittosporum'' ( or The first pronunciation is that expected for traditi ...

'' * ''

Pseudodipsas ''Pseudodipsas'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae with six species, two of which are unnamed.

References

Theclinae Butterfly tribes {{Theclinae-stub