''Tarucus'' is a

butterfly 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. They are commonly known as blue Pierrots or simply Pierrots. The latter name is often used for the closely related genus ''

Castalius ''Castalius'' is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as Pierrots. This name is also often used for the very closely related genus '' Tarucus''. In fact, the delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus'' is not ...

''. The delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus'' is not yet fully resolved, with some species, such as the dark Pierrot (''T. ananda''), having been moved between the two genera repeatedly. It may even be that they are eventually regarded as

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

ous, and in that case the older name ''Castalius'' would supersede ''Tarucus'' by the ''

Principle of Priority Priority is a principle in Taxonomy (biology), biological taxonomy by which a valid scientific name is established based on the oldest available name. It is a decisive rule in Botanical nomenclature, botanical and zoological nomenclature to recogn ...

''. Several

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), ...

formerly in ''Tarucus'' were moved to '' Leptotes'', another closely related lineage (though not quite as close as ''Castalius''). The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s of this genus typically feed on ''

Ziziphus ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' and are attended by

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

Species

The genus can be divided in two distinct groups. These are generally separated geographically, but some

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

(such as the black-spotted Pierrot, ''T. balkanicus nigra''), though assigned to one group, occur in the range of the other. Consequently, it is not quite clear whether the groups are

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s or merely convenient but

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

assemblages:Brower (2008), and see references in Savela (2009)

Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

group: * '' Tarucus balkanicus'' – Balkan Pierrot, little tiger blue ** '' Tarucus balkanicus nigra'' – black-spotted Pierrot * '' Tarucus bowkeri'' (Trimen, 1883) – Bowker's blue * '' Tarucus grammicus'' (Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1893) – black Pierrot * '' Tarucus kiki'' Larsen, 1976 – Kiki's Pierrot * '' Tarucus kulala'' Evans, 1955 – Turkana Pierrot * '' Tarucus legrasi'' Stempffer, 1944 – Le Gras' Pierrot * '' Tarucus quadratus'' Ogilvie-Grant, 1899 * '' Tarucus rosacea'' (Austaut, 1885) – Mediterranean tiger blue, Mediterranean Pierrot * '' Tarucus sybaris'' (Hopffer, 1855) – Dotted blue * '' Tarucus theophrastus'' – pointed Pierrot, African Pierrot, common tiger blue * '' Tarucus thespis'' (Linnaeus, 1764) – Vivid blue * '' Tarucus ungemachi'' Stempffer, 1944 – Ungemach's Pierrot

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 ...

n group: * '' Tarucus ananda'' – dark Pierrot * '' Tarucus callinara'' – spotted Pierrot * ''

Tarucus indica ''Tarucus'' is a butterfly genus in the family (biology), family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as blue Pierrots or simply Pierrots. The latter name is often used for the closely related genus ''Castalius''. The delimitation of ''Castalius'' ...

'' – Indian Pierrot * '' Tarucus nara'' – striped Pierrot * '' Tarucus venosus'' – veined Pierrot, Himalayan Pierrot * '' Tarucus waterstradti'' Druce, 1895 ** '' Tarucus waterstradti dharta'' – Assam Pierrot Others: * '' Tarucus alteratus'' * '' Tarucus extricatus''

Footnotes

References

* (2008):

Tree of Life Web Project The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is an Internet project providing information about the diversity and phylogeny of life on Earth. This collaborative peer reviewed project began in 1995, and is written by biologists from around the world. The s ...

&ndash
''Tarucus'' Moore 1881. The Blue Pierrots
Version of 19 May 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2009. * (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash

Version of 15 August 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 74 et prae
Lycaenidae genera {{Polyommatini-stub