''Rapala'' is a genus of

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

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 ...

Deudorigini The Deudorigini are a tribe of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. Genera As not all Theclinae have been assigned to tribes, the following list of genera is preliminary: * '' Araotes'' * ''Artipe'' * '' Bindahara'' * '' Capys'' * '' Deudor ...

of the subfamily

Theclinae The subfamily Theclinae is a group of butterflies, often referred to as hairstreaks, with some species instead known as elfins or by other names. The group is part of the family Lycaenidae, the "gossamer-winged butterflies". There are many tropi ...

of 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 called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of ...

. They are found throughout

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, with a few species extending 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 into the eastern

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

region. Males of ''Rapala'' are differentiated from other

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 ...

in the Deudorigini by their

genitalia A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

, with the conjoined valvae tapering evenly to rounded apices. The male secondary sexual characters also differ. In every species there is a brand above the origin of vein seven and lying wholly within space seven, clothed with very small scent scales, and nearly always there is an associated erectile hair tuft on the forewing dorsum beneath. Almost all species exhibit

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

in the colour of the upperside; normally the male is red, reddish brown or deep blue, while the female is dark brown or pale purple blue.

Selected species

* '' Rapala arata'' (Bremer, 1861) * ''

Rapala cassidyi ''Rapala cassidyi'', the Cassidy's flash is a Lycaenidae, lycaenid butterfly found in Sulawesi.Vane-Wright R.I. & de Jong R., The Butterflies of Sulawesi, NMNH, 2003. It was discovered in 1985 during the Project Wallace expedition of the Royal E ...

'' * ''

Rapala christopheri ''Rapala christopheri'' is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It was described by David A. Lane and Chris J. Müller in 2006. It is endemic to East Timor.Müller, C. J. (2006). "New species and subspecies of ''Rapala'' Moore and ''Deudorix ...

'' (Lane & Müller, 2006) * '' Rapala dioetas'' * '' Rapala diopites'' * ''

Rapala iarbus ''Rapala iarbus'', the common red flash, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in South.Robert, T.J. (2001). ''The Butterflies of Pakistan.'' Oxford University Press. 154. and Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United N ...

'' * '' Rapala lankana'' * ''

Rapala melampus ''Baspa melampus'', the Indian red flash, Retrieved April 19, 2018. is a species of blue (Lycaenidae) butterfly found in South-East Asia. Range The butterfly occurs in Sri Lanka and in India from South India to Orissa, and, in the north from Mur ...

'' * '' Rapala manea'' (Hewitson,

863 __NOTOC__ Year 863 ( DCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * September 3 – Battle of Lalakaon: A Byzantine army confronts an invasion by Muslim forces, led by Um ...

* '' Rapala melida'' * '' Rapala nemorensis'' Oberthür, 1914 * '' Rapala repercussa'' Leech, 1890 * '' Ropala ribbei''

Johannes Röber Johannes Karl Max "Julius" Röber (1861–1942) was a German entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. Röber lived in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony. He described many new species and genera (taxa). Works *Parts of Staudinger, O., and Schatz, ...

, 1886 * ''

Rapala rhoecus ''Rapala rhoecus'' is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It was described by Lionel de Nicéville in 1895. It is found in the Indomalayan realm The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of Sout ...

'' * ''

Rapala schistacea ''Rapala manea'', slate flash, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in most of the Indomalayan realm (excluding Taiwan). The wingspan is 24–26 mm. The larvae of subspecies ''R. m. schistacea'' feed on the flowers of Ros ...

'' * '' Rapala scintilla'' * '' Rapala selira'' * ''

Rapala sphinx ''Rapala sphinx'', the brilliant flash, is a species of Lycaenidae, lycaenid or blue butterfly found in Asia. References

Rapala (butterfly) Butterflies of Asia Butterflies described in 1775 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius {{T ...

'' * '' Rapala suffusa'' * '' Rapala tomokoae'' H. Hayashi, Schrőder & Treadaway,

978 Year 978 ( CMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated by the Byzantine army loyal to Emper ...

/small> * '' Rapala varuna''

References

External links

Images representing ''Rapala''
at

Consortium for the Barcode of Life The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) was an international initiative dedicated to supporting the development of DNA barcoding as a global standard for species identification. CBOL's Secretariat Office is hosted by the National Museum of ...

"''Rapala'' Moore, [1881]"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' Rapala (butterfly)"> Lycaenidae genera Taxa named by Frederic Moore">Lycaenidae genera">Rapala (butterfly)"> Lycaenidae genera Taxa named by Frederic Moore {{Theclinae-stub