''Microtia'' is a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

genus of butterflies from southern United States and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

. It contains the single species ''Microtia elva'', the elf. Larvae of this species feed on '' Tetramerium'' and other species in the family

Acanthaceae Acanthaceae () is a Family (biology), family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are Tropics, tropical Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epip ...

Subspecies

*''M. e. elva'' (Guatemala, Nicaragua) *''M. e. horni'' Rebel, 1906 (Mexico, Oaxaca)

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q13846234, from2=Q11703720 Melitaeini Monotypic butterfly genera Taxa named by Henry Walter Bates