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Lycaenidae
The large blue, a lycaenid butterfly
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Euarthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Papilionoidea
Family:	Lycaenidae Leach, 1815
Subfamilies
Curetinae – sunbeams Liphyrinae Lipteninae Lycaeninae – coppers Miletinae – harvesters Polyommatinae – blues Poritiinae Theclinae – hairstreaks, elfins and see text or List of lycaenid genera

Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide,^[1] whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly species.

The family is traditionally divided into the subfamilies of the blues (Polyommatinae), the coppers (Lycaeninae), the hairstreaks (Theclinae) and the harvesters (Miletinae).

Adults are small, under 5 cm usually, and brightly coloured, sometimes with a metallic gloss.

Larvae are often flattened rather than cylindrical, with glands that may produce secretions that attract and subdue ants. Their cuticles tend to be thickened. Some larvae are capable of producing vibrations and low sounds that are transmitted through the substrates they inhabit. They use these sounds to communicate with ants.^[2][3]

Adult individuals often have hairy antenna-like tails complete with black and white annulated (ringed) appearance. Many species also have a spot at the base of the tail and some turn around upon landing to confuse potential predators from recognizing the true head orientation. This causes predators to approach from the true head end resulting in early visual detection.^[4]

Ecology

Ant tending a lycaenid larva

Lycaenids are diverse in their food habits and apart from phytophagy, some of them are entomophagous feeding on aphids, scale insects, and ant larvae. Some lycaenids even exploit their association with ants by inducing ants to feed them by regurgitation, a process called trophallaxis. Not all lycaenid butterflies need ants, but about 75% of species associate with ants,^[2] a relationship called myrmecophily. These associations can be mutualistic, parasitic, or predatory depending on the species.

In some species, larvae are attended and protected by ants while feeding on the host plant, and the ants receive sugar-rich honeydew from them, throughout the larval life, and in some species during the pupal stage. In other species, only the first few instars are spent on the plant, and the remainder of the larval lifespan is spent as a predator within the ant nest. It becomes a parasite, feeding on ant regurgitations, or a predator on the ant larvae.^[2] The caterpillars pupate inside the ant's nest and the ants continue to look after the pupa. Just before the adult emerges the wings of the butterfly inside the pupal case detach from it, and the pupa becomes silvery. The adult butterfly emerges from the pupa after three to four weeks, still inside the ant nest. The butterfly must crawl out of the ant nest before it can expand its wings.

Several evolutionary adaptations enable these associations and they include small glands on the skin of the caterpillars called "pore cupola organs". Caterpillars of many species, except those of the Riodininae, have a gland on the seventh abdominal segment that produces honeydew and is called the "dorsal nectary gland" (also called "Newcomer's gland"). An eversible organ called the "tentacular organ" is present on the eighth abdominal segment (third segment of thorax in the Riodininae) and this is cylindrical and topped with a ring of spikes and emits chemical signals which are believed to help in communicating with ants.^[5]

Subfamilies

Mating Polyommatus semiargus

Caterpillar of the Atala (Eumaeus atala)

Leaf blue (Amblypodia anita) from Theclinae

Many taxonomists include only the Lycaeninae, Theclinae, Polyommatinae, Poritiinae, Miletinae and Curetinae under the Lycaenidae.^[6][7]

The tribe Aphnaeini of the subfamily Theclinae which includes the genus Chrysoritis is sometimes listed as separate subfamily.^[6]

A few authorities still include the family Riodinidae within the Lycaenidae. The monotypic former subfamily Styginae represented by Styx infernalis from the Peruvian Andes has been placed within the subfamily Euselasiinae^[8] of the family Riodinidae.^[9]

Other classifications notably include the Riodininae (e.g., Abisara echerius).^[10]

• 
  Lipteninae (Afrotropical) may be ranked as a tribe of Poritiinae. (Liptenini) ^[11]
  


• 
  Poritiinae (Oriental and Afrotropical)


• 
  Liphyrinae (mostly African, some Asian) may be ranked as a tribe of Miletinae. (Liphyrini) ^[12] Selected species
  
  • 
    Liphyra brassolis – moth butterfly (largest lycaenid)
  
  


• 
  Curetinae – sunbeams (Oriental or Palaearctic) selected species


• 
  Miletinae – harvesters (mostly African, or Oriental, some Holarctic). Probably all feed on aphids or their secretions.
  
  • 
    Curetis thetis – Indian sunbeam
  
  


• 
  Theclinae – hairstreaks (usually tailed) and elfins (not tailed) (global) may be ranked as a tribe of Lycaeninae (Theclini) see the clade below right. Selected species
  
  
  
  • 
    Arhopala - oakblues
  
  
  • 
    Atlides halesus – great purple hairstreak
  
  
  • 
    Eumaeus atala – Atala
  
  
  • 
    Satyrium pruni – black hairstreak
  
  
  
  


• 
  Lycaeninae – coppers (Holarctic) selected species
  
  
  
  • 
    Iophanus pyrrhias – Guatemalan copper
  
  
  • 
    Lycaena boldenarum – boulder copper
  
  
  • 
    Lycaena epixanthe – bog copper
  
  
  • 
    Lycaena rauparaha – Rauparaha's copper
  
  
  • 
    Lycaena dispar – large copper
  
  
  • 
    Lycaena phlaeas – small copper
  
  
  • 
    Lycaena heteronea - blue copper
  
  
  
  


• 
  Polyommatinae – blues (global) selected species
  
  
  
  • 
    Caleta spp.
  
  
  • 
    Celastrina ladon – spring azure
  
  
  • 
    Chilades - jewel blues
  
  
  • 
    Cupido comyntas – eastern tailed-blue
  
  
  • 
    Cupido minimus – small blue
  
  
  • 
    Euphilotes battoides allyni – El Segundo blue
  
  
  • 
    Euphilotes pallescens arenamontana – Sand Mountain blue
  
  
  • 
    Glaucopsyche lygdamus – silvery blue
  
  
  • 
    Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis – Palos Verdes blue
  
  
  • 
    Glaucopsyche xerces (extinct) – Xerces blue
  
  
  • 
    Icaricia icarioides fenderi – Fender's blue
  
  
  • 
    Maculinea arion – large blue
  
  
  • Phengaris xiushani
  
  
  • 
    Polyommatus icarus – common blue
  
  
  • 
    Polyommatus semiargus – mazarine blue
  
  
  • 
    Pseudozizeeria maha – pale grass blue
  
  
  • 
    Plebejus argus – silver-studded blue
  
  
  • 
    Talicada nyseus – red pierrot
  
  
  
  

The fossil genus Lithodryas is usually (but not unequivocally) placed here; Lithopsyche is sometimes placed here but sometimes in the Riodininae.

See also

• List of lycaenid genera

References

Further reading

• Charles A. Bridges, 1994. Catalogue of the family-group, genus-group and species-group names of the Riodinidae & Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera) of the world Urbana, Ill. :C.A. Bridges pdf
  


• Eliot, J.N.1973 The higher classification of the Lycaenidae] (Lepidoptera): a tentative arrangement. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), entomology, 28: 371-505. 1973: [8]
  


• Glassberg, Jeffrey Butterflies through Binoculars, The West (2001)


• Guppy, Crispin S. and Shepard, Jon H. Butterflies of British Columbia (2001)


• James, David G. and Nunnallee, David Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies (2011)


• Pelham, Jonathan Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada (2008)


• Pyle, Robert Michael The Butterflies of Cascadia (2002)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lycaenidae.

Wikispecies has information related to Lycaenidae

• Tree of Life


• BugGuide.net


• Family Lycaenidae at Lepidoptera.pro


• 
  "Lycaenidae". National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
  


• ITIS


• 
  Lycaenidae at the Encyclopedia of Life
  


• 
  Royal Museum for Central Africa Images of Lycaenidae [9]
  


• Butterflies and Moths of North America


• Butterflies of America