''Lycaena'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
butterflies. The genus range is
Holarctic, with the exception of four species found in New Zealand, two in South Africa, one in
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 ...
and one in
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
. It is commonly divided into several subgenera, such as ''
Antipodolycaena''. Many formerly independent genera are now subsumed within ''Lycaena''; the genus ''Gaiedes'' may also belong here. Many of the subgenera, species groups and species listed here may be
synonyms.
Species
Listed alphabetically within groups:
''Lycaena''
funet.fi
Subgenus ''Tharsalea'' Scudder, 1876:
*'' Lycaena arota'' (Boisduval, 1852) – tailed copper
Subgenus ''Chalceria'' Scudder, 1876:
The ''thaeides'' species group:
*'' Lycaena dione'' (Scudder, 1868)
*'' Lycaena editha'' (Mead, 1878) – Edith's copper California, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada
*'' Lycaena gorgon'' (Boisduval, 1852) – gorgon copper Nevada, California, Oregon
*'' Lycaena xanthoides'' (Boisduval, 1852) – great gray copper California
The ''chalceria'' species group:
*'' Lycaena ferrisi'' Johnson & Balogh, 1977 – Ferris' copper Arizona
*'' Lycaena heteronea'' Boisduval, 1858 – blue copper
*'' Lycaena rubidus'' (Behr, 1866) – ruddy copper
Subgenus Epidemia Scudder, 1876:
The ''hyllolycaena'' species group:
*'' Lycaena hyllus'' (Cramer, 775 – bronze copper
The ''epidemia'' species group:
*'' Lycaena dorcas'' Kirby, 1837 – dorcas copper or cinquefoil copper
*'' Lycaena dospassosi'' McDunnough, 1940
*'' Lycaena epixanthe'' (Boisduval & Leconte, 835 – bog copper, cranberry-bog copper
*'' Lycaena helloides'' (Boisduval, 1852) – purplish copper
*'' Lycaena nivalis'' (Boisduval, 1869) – nivalis copper
*'' Lycaena mariposa'' (Reakirt, 1866) – mariposa copper
Subgenus ''Hermelycaena'' Miller & Brown, 1979:
*'' Lycaena hermes'' (Edwards, 1870) – Hermes copper
Subgenus ''Antipodolycaena'' Smart, 1975:
*'' Lycaena boldenarum'' White, 1862 New Zealand
*'' Lycaena feredayi'' (Bates, 1867) – glade copper
*'' Lycaena rauparaha'' (Fereday, 1877) New Zealand
*'' Lycaena salustius'' (Fabricius, 1793) – common copper
Unnamed subgenus:
The ''heodes'' species group:
*'' Lycaena ottomanus'' (Lefèbvre, 1830) – Grecian copper
*'' Lycaena tityrus'' (Poda, 1761) – sooty copper
*'' Lycaena virgaureae'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – scarce copper
The ''palaeochrysophanus'' species group:
*'' Lycaena candens'' (Herrich-Schäffer, 844 South Europe, Caucasus, Transcaucasia
*'' Lycaena hippothoe'' (Linnaeus, 1761) – purple-edged copper
Subgenus ''Lycaena'' Fabricius, 1807:
The ''helle'' species group:
*'' Lycaena helle'' ( chiffermüller 1775) – violet copper
*'' Lycaena irmae'' Bailey, 1932 South Tibet
*'' Lycaena li'' (Oberthür, 1886) West China
*'' Lycaena ouang'' (Oberthür, 1891) Yunnan
*'' Lycaena pang'' (Oberthür, 1886) West China, Tibet
*'' Lycaena svenhedini'' (Nordström, 1935) China
*'' Lycaena tseng'' (Oberthür, 1886) North Burma to West China
The ''phlaeas'' species group:
*'' Lycaena cupreus'' (Edwards, 1870) – lustrous copper
*'' Lycaena kiyokoae'' Sakai, 1978 Afghanistan
*'' Lycaena phlaeas'' (Linnaeus, 1761) – small copper, common copper, American copper
*'' Lycaena sichuanica'' Bozano & Weidenhoffer, 2001
The ''thersamolycaena'' species group:
*'' Lycaena aeolus'' Wyatt, 1961 West Pamirs, Afghanistan
*'' Lycaena aeolides'' (Churkin, 1999) Gissar Range, Central Asia
*'' Lycaena alciphron'' (Rottemburg, 1775) – purple-shot copper
*'' Lycaena dispar'' (Haworth, 1802) – large copper
*'' Lycaena splendens'' (Staudinger, 1881) Dzhungarsky Alatau, Tian-Shan (Central Asia)
*'' Lycaena violaceus'' (Staudinger, 1892)
The ''thersamonia'' species group:
*'' Lycaena aditya'' (Moore, 875 West Pamirs, Afghanistan, Pakistan, North India
*'' Lycaena alaica'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1888) Pamirs-Alai, Gissar Range, North east Afghanistan
*'' Lycaena alpherakyi'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1888) East Pamirs, Northwest China
*'' Lycaena attila'' (Zhdanko, 1990) Zaalaisky Mountains (Trans-Ili Alatau) Central Asia
*'' Lycaena asabinus'' (Herrich-Schäffer, 851 Turkey, Transcaucasia, Iran, Armenia
*'' Lycaena hyrcana'' (Neuburger, 1903) North Iran to Central Asia
*'' Lycaena kurdistanica'' (Riley, 1921) Armenia, Northeast Turkey, West Iran
*'' Lycaena lampon'' Lederer, 870Kopet-Dagh, Southeast Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan
*'' Lycaena ochimus'' (Herrich-Schäffer, 851 Transcaucasia, Armenia, Caucasus Minor, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Talysh Mountains (Iran - Azerbaijan)
*'' Lycaena phoebus'' (Blachier, 1905) – Moroccan copper Morocco
*'' Lycaena solskyi'' Erschoff, 1874 Pamirs to Alay Mountains, Gissar Range, Darvaz Range, Tian-Shan, Kashmir, Samarkand
*'' Lycaena thersamon'' (Esper, 1784) – lesser fiery copper
*'' Lycaena thetis'' Klug, 1834 – fiery copper or golden copper
The ''phoenicurusia'' species group:
*'' Lycaena margelanica'' (Staudinger, 1881) South Tajikistan to Tien-Shan, Gissar Range, Darvaz, Alay, West Pamir, Babatag, Karatau, Teriklitau, Rangontau, Zailiisky Alatau, Lake Issyk-Kul mountains
The ''hyrcanana'' species group:
*'' Lycaena caspius'' (Lederer, 1869) Kopet-Dagh, Gissar Range, North Iran, Afghanistan
*'' Lycaena ophion'' Hemming, 1933 Kopet-Dagh, Gissar Range to Darvaz Tadzhikistan
*'' Lycaena pamira'' (Nekrutenko, 1983)
*'' Lycaena sartha'' (Staudinger, 1886) Gissar Range to Darvaz, Pamirs to Alay mountains, Northeast Afghanistan
*'' Lycaena sultan'' (Lang, 1884) West Gissar Range (Zeravshansky, Ghissarsky, Baisuntau, Fanskie)
Unknown species group:
*'' Lycaena bathinia'' Snellen, 1899 dubious Java
*'' Lycaena clarki'' Dickson, 1971 – eastern sorrel copper
*'' Lycaena evansii'' (de Nicéville, 1902) Kashmir, Chitral
*'' Lycaena kasyapa'' (Moore, 1865) – green copper
*'' Lycaena orus'' (Stoll, 780 – western sorrel copper
*'' Lycaena ottomanus'' (Lefèbvre, 1830)
*'' Lycaena pallida'' Miskin, 1891 New Guinea
*'' Lycaena panava'' (Westwood, 1852)
*'' Lycaena pavana'' (Kollar, 844 – white-bordered copper North India
*'' Lycaena standfussi'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1891) West China, Tibet
*'' Lycaena susanus'' (Swinhoe, 1889) Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan
*'' Lycaena tama'' (Fereday, 1878) New Zealand
*'' Lycaena tityrus'' Poda, 1761 – sooty copper
*'' Lycaena virgaureae'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – scarce copper
*'' Lycaena zariaspa'' (Moore, 1874) West Himalayas, Kashmir, Northwest India
References
External links
images representing ''Lycaena''
at Consortium for the Barcode of Life
{{Authority control
Lycaeninae
Lycaenidae genera
Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius