Junonia is a genus of nymphalid butterflies, described by Jacob Hübner in 1819.[1] They are commonly known as buckeyes, pansies or commodores. This genus flies on every continent except Antarctica and Europe. The genus contains roughly 30 to 35 species.[2]

Junonia
Junonia villida
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Tribe: Junoniini
Genus: Junonia
Hübner, [1819]
Type species
Junonia evarete
(Cramer, 1779)
Species

Around 40, see text

Synonyms
  • Alcyoneis Hübner, [1819]
  • Aresta Billberg, 1820
  • Kamilla Collins & Larsen, 1991

Description

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These butterflies are medium to large (wingspan 40–110 mm). The ground colour is brown or grey suffused blue. Spots on the wings are orange, blue or pink and sometimes large. Many of the species can occur in several colour forms. The head is of moderate size with smooth, prominent eyes. The palpi are rather long, sharply pointed, ascending, generally convergent and scaly, sometimes more or less hairy. The antennae are of moderate length, generally with a rather short, abruptly formed club. The thorax is robust, ovate, rather sparingly clothed with hairs. The wing characters are: large, broad, variable in outline. Forewing: costa more or less arched, sometimes very strongly so; apical portion more or less produced, sometimes very prominent, with a strong projection on the hind margin at the extremity of the first discoidal nervule; hind margin always more or less dentate and emarginate, with, in many species, a considerable projection at extremity of third median nervule; inner margin nearly straight, or slightly emarginate about centre; discoidal cell generally closed by a slender nervule. Hindwing: costa strongly arched at base, and more or less so throughout; hind margin always more or less scalloped, sometimes simply rounded (without any marked projections), sometimes with a more or less elongate production of anal angle, and occasionally with a longer or shorter projection of hind margin at extremity of first median nervule; inner margins deeply grooved and entirely covering the under surface of the abdomen; discoidal cell generally open. The abdomen short, compressed, rather slender.

The larvae are rather stout, almost of equal thickness throughout, armed with strong branched spines; sometimes with two short, similar spines on head. The pupae are moderately angulated, with raised tubercles on the back, head slightly bifid. Sometimes hardly angulated, the anterior portions more rounded.

Biology

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Junonia are good fliers. The larvae feed on a wide variety of plants, among others Labiatae, Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Onagraceae, Leguminosae, Balsaminaceae, Gramineae, Melastomataceae, Plantaginaceae, Aucubaceae and Compositae. The species found in South India generally show very sensitive behaviour.

Taxonomy

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The leaf butterflies J. ansorgei and J. cymodoce (both from Africa) have traditionally been included in Kallima, but this genus is now usually limited to Asian species. Instead of being placed in Junonia, the two are sometimes awarded their own genus, Kallima. The leaf butterfly J. tugela is sometimes included in Precis instead of Junonia.

Recent phylogenetic and DNA research resulted some subspecies being elevated to species rank, along with some new species descriptions. Currently, the species Junonia divaricata, Junonia evarete, Junonia genoveva, and Junonia litoralis are restricted to South America. Six species are present in the United States: Junonia coenia, Junonia grisea, Junonia neildi, Junonia nigrosuffusa, Junonia stemosa, and Junonia zonalis.[3]

The species in Junonia:[4][5][6]

Caterpillar Butterfly Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Junonia adulatrix (Fruhstorfer, 1903) Pulau Sumba
Junonia africana (Richelmann, 1913) Cameroon
  Junonia almana (Linnaeus, 1758) peacock pansy Cambodia and South Asia
Junonia ansorgei (Rothschild, 1899) Ansorge's leaf butterfly Cameroon, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Ethiopia, Uganda, western Kenya, western Tanzania and Zambia.
Junonia artaxia Hewitson, 1864 commodore eastern Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Lomami, Kabinda, Lualaba, Shaba and Tanganika) Burundi, Kenya, southern and western Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
    Junonia atlites (Linnaeus, 1763) grey pansy or gray pansy India, southern China, Cambodia, Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, western and central Indonesia, and the Philippines.
  Junonia chorimene (Guérin-Méneville, [1844]) golden pansy Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Uele, Ituri, Kivu and Lualaba), Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, northern and western Kenya, northern Tanzania, south-western Arabia and Yemen.
    Junonia coenia Hübner, [1822] (common) buckeye Southern Canada, United States, Bermuda, Cuba, Isle of Pines, and southern Mexico
Junonia cytora Doubleday, 1847 (formerly Salamis cytora) western blue beauty Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Benin
Junonia cymodoce (Cramer, [1777]) western leaf, blue leaf butterfly Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, western Uganda, western Tanzania and north-western Zambia
  Junonia divaricata C. & R. Felder, [1867] Suriname, French Guiana
  Junonia elgiva (Druce, 1773) southern soldier pansy Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland
Junonia erigone (Cramer, [1775]) northern argus Java and New Guinea
    Junonia evarete (Cramer, [1779]) South & Central America
  Junonia genoveva (Cramer, [1780]) Central America, Honduras, Florida (US), Bahamas, Antilles, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, Paraguay, Uruguay
  Junonia goudotii (Boisduval, 1833) Madagascar, the Comoros and Mauritius
  Junonia gregorii Butler, [1896] Gregori's brown pansy eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, western Tanzania and Kenya
  Junonia grisea Austin & Emmel, 1998 gray buckeye North America, west of the Rocky Mountains
Junonia hadrope Doubleday, [1847] Volta pansy Ghana (the Volta Region)
  Junonia hedonia (Linnaeus, 1764) brown pansy Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Australia.
    Junonia hierta (Fabricius, 1798) yellow pansy Southwestern China, Sikkim, Tropical Africa, Madagascar, Arabia
  Junonia intermedia (C. & R. Felder, [1867]) Sulawesi Chocolate Pansy Sulawesi
  Junonia iphita (Cramer, [1779]) chocolate pansy Asia
  Junonia lemonias (Linnaeus, 1758) lemon pansy Cambodia and South Asia
Junonia litoralis Brévignon, 2009 South America
Junonia natalica (Felder, 1860) Natal pansy Angola, south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Pemba Island, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, northern Botswana, Namibia(Caprivi, Swaziland), South Africa (Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape)
  Junonia neildi Brévignon, 2004 mangrove buckeye Florida, south Texas, Mexico, and the Caribbean
  Junonia nigrosuffusa Barnes & McDunnough, 1916 dark buckeye southwestern United States and Mexico.
  Junonia oenone (Linnaeus, 1758) dark blue pansy Madagascar, Aldabra, Astove, Assumption and Cosmoledo Island.
  Junonia orithya (Linnaeus, 1758) eyed pansy or blue pansy south-eastern Asia, Cambodia and in Australia
  Junonia pacoma Grishin, 2020 Pacific mangrove buckeye western Mexico.
  Junonia rhadama (Boisduval, 1833) brilliant blue Madagascar, Mauritius, Rodrigues, Réunion, the Comoros, and the Seychelles (Astove Island).
Junonia schmiedeli (Fiedler, 1920) Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Uele, Ituri, Kivu, Maniema, Sankuru, Lualaba), and Uganda
  Junonia sophia (Fabricius, 1793) little commodore Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia.
  Junonia stemosa Grishin, 2020 twintip buckeye south Texas.
  Junonia stygia (Aurivillius, 1894) brown pansy or dark pansy Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Junonia terea (Drury, 1773) soldier commodore or soldier pansy Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, western Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, central Kenya, north-western Tanzania,
Junonia timorensis Wallace, 1869 Sumba
Junonia touhilimasa Vuillot, 1892 naval pansy Democratic Republic of the Congo (Shaba), south-western Tanzania, northern Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Junonia tugela (Trimen, 1879) African leaf butterfly (moved to Precis tugela) southern Africa, ranging from Ethiopia to South Africa
Junonia vestina C. & R. Felder, [1867] Andean buckeye southern Peru and Bolivia
  Junonia villida (Fabricius, 1787) meadow argus Australia and Nelsons Island
Junonia wahlbergi Brévignon, 2008 Guyana
Junonia westermanni Westwood, 1870 blue spot pansy Tropical Africa
  Junonia zonalis C. & R. Felder, [1867] Caribbean buckeye Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and tropical South America

References

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  1. ^ Hübner, J. Verzeichniss bekannter Schmettlinge, 17-176, 1819.
  2. ^ "Junonia Research | Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum | Sanibel". shellmuseum. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  3. ^ Cong, Qian; Zhang, Jing; Shen, Jinhui; Cao, Xiaolong; et al. (2020). "Speciation in North American Junonia from a genomic perspective". Systematic Entomology. 45 (4): 803–837. Bibcode:2020SysEn..45..803C. doi:10.1111/syen.12428. PMC 8570557. PMID 34744257. S2CID 213479182.
  4. ^ "Junonia Hübner, [1819]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  5. ^ Junoniini Archived 2010-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, Nymphalidae.net
  6. ^ Cong, Q., Zhang, J., Shen, J.H., Cao, X.L, Brévignon, C. & Grishin, N.V. 2020. Speciation in North American Junonia from a genomic perspective. Systematic Entomology 45(4): 803–837. DOI: 10.1111/syen.12428.
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