Anthene is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae, commonly called the ciliate blues or hairtails. The genus was erected by Edward Doubleday in 1847.

Anthene
Anthene and related genera in Adalbert Seitz's Fauna Africana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Tribe: Lycaenesthini
Genus: Anthene
Doubleday, 1847
Synonyms
  • Lycaenesthes Moore, [1866]
  • Triclema Karsch, 1893
  • Neurypexina Bethune-Baker, 1910
  • Neurellipes Bethune-Baker, 1910
  • Monile Ungemach, 1932
  • Pseudoliptena Stempffer, 1946
Anthenes as Lycaenesthes Bethune-Baker, 1910 Transactions of the Entomological Society of London

Anthene are small to medium-sized (wingspan 16–40 millimetres), slender butterflies without tails or with 2–3 short, hairy tails on the hindwing. The upper parts are dark brown, in males often with a blue or blue-violet metallic sheen that is usually not as strong as in many other blues. Other species have orange, or less often, white patches. Females are more uniformly brown. The underparts are light brown, often with white-edged transverse bands, but without or with few dark spots.

The larvae can live on a variety of shrubs and trees, but are often found on the acacia genus (Acacia). Some of the species are associated with ants. The ants collect the young larvae and carry them back to the nest, where they are fed and cared for, in return they secrete substances that the ants like.

Distribution Most of the species live in Africa, but there is also a group in Southeast Asia (north to the Himalayas) and Australia.

The genera Neurellipes, Neurypexina, and Triclema are often considered subgenera of Anthene.

Subgenera and species

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Listed alphabetically within subgenera:[1]

References

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  1. ^ Savela, Markku. "Anthene Doubleday, 1847". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  • Cramer, P. (1775–1780). De Uitlandsche Kapellen ... Asia, Africa en America ... Amsterdam, Baalde & Utrecht, 4 vols.
  • Doubleday, E. (1847). List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum 2: [ii], 57 pp. London.
  • Hemming, A. F. (1935). In Carpenter (1935). Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 83: 313-447.
  • Henning, G.A. & Henning, S.F. (1993). Description of a new species of Anthene Doubleday (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from the Transvaal, South Africa. Metamorphosis 4(4): 156-158.
  • Larsen, T.B. (2009). Anthene georgiadisi sp. nov. (Lep.: Lycaenidae) – a new butterfly from Liberia. Entomologist's record and journal of variation, 121 (1): 47-51. ISSN 0013-8916
  • Moore, F. (1866). On the lepidopterous insects of Bengal. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1865: 755-823, 3 pls.
  • Stempffer, H. (1946). Contribution a l'etude des Lycaenidae de la faune ethiopienne. Revue fr. Ent. 13: 8-19.
  • Tennent, W.J. (2001). Twenty new butterflies from the Solomon Islands (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae; Lycaenidae; Nymphalinae; Satyrinae; Danainae). British Journal of Entomology and Natural History 14: 1-27.
  • Tite, G. E. (1966). A revision of the genus Anthene from the Oriental region. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 18: 253-275, 2 pls, 28 text figs.
  • Ungemach, H. (1932). Contribution a l'étude des lépidoptères d'Abyssinie. Mém. Soc. Sci. nat. phy. Maroc. 32: 1-122, 2 pls., 1 map.
  • Williams, M. C. (2008). Checklist of Afrotropical Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea. 7th Edn. (April 2007). Downloaded from [1] Afrotropical Butterflies.

Content in this edit is translated from the existing Norwegian Wikipedia article at no:Anthene; see its history for attribution.

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  •   Media related to Anthene at Wikimedia Commons
  •   Data related to Anthene at Wikispecies
  • Takanami, Yusuke & Seki, Yasuo (2001). "Genus Anthene". A Synonymic List of Lycaenidae from the Philippines. Archived June 30, 2001. With images.
  • "Taxonomy Browser: Anthene". Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD). Retrieved January 10, 2020.