Butterfly genus in family Lycaenidae From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thereus is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies (family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies occur essentially all over the Neotropics.[1]
| Thereus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Imago of type species T. lausus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Tribe: | Eumaeini |
| Genus: | Thereus Hübner, [1819] |
| Type species | |
| Papilio lausus Cramer, [1779] | |
| Diversity | |
| Some 20 described species, but see text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Several, see text | |
Though this genus was first proposed long ago, for much of the time Thereus was included in the "wastebin genus" Thecla. However, the two genera are not particularly close relatives among their subfamily. In recent times, it has been proposed to remove several species from Thereus to smaller or even monotypic genera. While this might be warranted in some cases, it is not followed here pending more thorough study.[1]
The junior synonyms of Thereus are thus:[1]
The following named species are placed in Thereus at present:[1]
In addition, a number of as yet undescribed butterflies are suspected to belong here too:[1]
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