''Torbenia'' 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 ...

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

. They are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Afrotropical realm 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 ...

. The five species were formerly placed in ''

Ornipholidotos ''Ornipholidotos'' is a genus of butterflies, commonly called glasswings or white mimics, in the family Lycaenidae. The species of this genus are Endemic species, endemic to the Afrotropical realm. Species * ''Ornipholidotos abriana'' Libert, 2 ...

''. The genus is named after Torben Bjørn Larsen.

Species

Listed alphabetically:''Torbenia''
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and some other life forms'' *'' Torbenia aurivilliusi'' (Stempffer, 1967) *'' Torbenia larseni'' (Stempffer, 1969) *'' Torbenia persimilis'' Libert, 2000 *'' Torbenia stempfferi'' Collins & Larsen, 2000 *'' Torbenia wojtusiaki'' Libert, 2000

References

Poritiinae Butterfly genera {{Poritiinae-stub