Lycaenidae [Leach] 1815

Introduction

The Lycaenidae as construed here includes the blues, coppers and hairstreaks, but not the metalmarks, which are viewed as a sister-family Riodinidae, based on the combined phylogenetic analysis of morphological and molecular data by Wahlberg et al. (2005). The vast majority of lycaenids are in the clade that includes the blues (Polyommatinae), coppers (Lycaeninae) and hairstreaks (Theclinae). Eliot (who viewed these taxa as tribes of a more inclusive Lycaeninae in Corbet et al. 1992) implied that Aphnaeinae is the sister group to the other three subfamilies based on characters of the larval head capsule.

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

The higher classification of Lycaenidae is currently in flux. The subfamilies, tribes and subtribes enumerated within this clade are for the most part the groups listed by Eliot (1973, 1992 [in Corbet et al.]). Note that the higher classifications presented by Eliot in 1973 and 1992 differ from one another in that the 1992 version reduced the three diverse subfamilies Lycaeninae, Polyommatinae and Theclinae to tribes within an inclusive "Lycaeninae," in order to reflect their affinity to one another with respect to Curetinae, Poritiinae and Miletinae. That change has not been generally adopted by the lycaenid research community (R. K. Robbins, pers. comm, 4/08), and has not been incorporated here. Note also that Eliot's classification was intuitive, and the monophyly and implied relationships among these groups should therefore be viewed as tentative, pending revelations from the large amount of molecular evidence that is currently being gathered by Naomi Pierce and colleagues. The relationships shown among the four subfamilies are those inferred by Wahlberg et al. (2005).

Other Names for Lycaenidae [Leach] 1815

• Gossamer-winged butterflies

References

Ackery, P. R., R. de Jong, and R. I. Vane-Wright. 1999. The butterflies: Hedyloidea, Hesperioidea, and Papilionoidea. Pages 264-300 in: Lepidoptera: Moths and Butterflies. 1. Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbook of Zoology Vol. IV, Part 35. N. P. Kristensen, ed. De Gruyter, Berlin and New York.

Corbet A. S., Pendlebury H. M., and Eliot J. N. 1992. The butterflies of the Malay Peninsula. Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur.

Eliot J. N. 1973. The higher classification of the Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera): a tentative arrangement. Bull. Br. Mus. Nat. Hist. (Ent.) 28: 371-505, 6 pls.

Wahlberg N, Braby MF, Brower AVZ, de Jong R, Lee M-M, Nylin S, Pierce NE, Sperling FAH, Vila R, Warren AD, and Zakharov E. 2005. Synergistic effects of combining morphological and molecular data in resolving the phylogeny of butterflies and skippers. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 272: 1577-1586.