Subject: European butterfly nomenclature

From: MR SWT GLEN <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 12:36:47 BST

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone out can help me with some problems I'm
having getting to grips with European Lycaenidae taxonomy. In
Kudrna's "The Butterflies Of Europe" (1986), he provides an
annotated checklist of European butterflies, the following species are
listed as;

_Polyommatus dorylas_  Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775
_Polyommatus coridon_  Poda, 1761
_Plebejus pylaon_  Fischer, 1832
_Lycaeides idas_  Linnaeus, 1761
_Lycaeides argyrognomon_  Bergstrasser, 1779

I have a couple of questions about this nomenclature. Is _Plebejus_ a
true genus divided into the subgenera _Plebejus, Plebejides,
Lycaeides_. Similarily, is _Polyommatus_ a true genus divided into
the subgenera _Polyommatus_ and _Lysandra_. I have also seen
works which describe _Plebejus pylaon_(Zephyr blue) as a complex
of species encapsulating _P.sephirus, P.trappi_ and _P.hespericus_.
Any enlightenment on these matters would be greatly appreciated.
However, I am not trying to start a great debate on the merits of
subspecies versus species, I just want to know what the accepted
terminology is, for a grant proposal. Please respond directly to my
email address.

All the best,
                      Stuart.

********************************************************
: Stuart Glen,
: School of Biological Sciences,
: University of Birmingham,
: Birmingham B15 2TT,
: Great Britain.
:
: Email. [email-masked]
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