Thereus

Thereus
Imago of type species T. lausus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Subfamily:	Theclinae
Tribe:	Eumaeini
Genus:	Thereus Hübner, [1819]
Type species
Papilio lausus Cramer, [1779]
Diversity
Some 20 described species, but see text
Synonyms
Several, see text

Male imagines of the disputed T. pedusa, upperside (left) and underwing

Thereus is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies (family Lycaenidae). Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies occur essentially all over the Neotropics.

Classification

Though this genus was first proposed long ago, for much of the time Thereus was included in the "wastebin genus" Thecla. However, the two genera are not particularly close relatives among their subfamily. In recent times, it has been proposed to remove several species from Thereus to smaller or even monotypic genera. While this might be warranted in some cases, it is not followed here pending more thorough study.

The junior synonyms of Thereus are thus:

• Molus Hübner, [1819]
• Noreena K.Johnson, MacPherson & Ingraham, 1986
• Pedusa D'Abrera, 2001 (may be nomen nudum)
• Solanorum Johnson, 1992
• Timokla Johnson, Kruse & Kroenlein, 1997

Species

The following named species are placed in Thereus at present:

• Thereus brocki Robbins, Heredia & Busby, 2015
• Thereus caltha (Druce, 1907)
• Thereus cithonius (Godart, [1824]) (type species of Noreena)
• Thereus columbicola (Strand, 1916)
• Thereus endera (Hewitson, 1867)
• Thereus enenia (Hewitson, 1867) (tentatively placed here)
• Thereus eryssus (Herbst, 1800)
• Thereus gabathana (Strand, 1918)
• Thereus genena (Hewitson, 1867)
• Thereus guianivaga (Johnson, 1989)
• Thereus illex (Schaus, 1902)
• Thereus ismarus (Cramer, [1777]) (type species of Molus)
• Thereus lausus (Cramer, [1779])
• Thereus lomalarga Robbins, Heredia & Busby, 2015
• Thereus lutzi (Huntington, 1932)
• Thereus molena (E. D. Jones, 1912)
• Thereus oppia (Godman & Salvin, [1887])
• Thereus orasus (Godman & Salvin, [1887])
• Thereus ortalus (Godman & Salvin, [1887])
• Thereus pedusa (Hewitson, 1867) (type species of "Pedusa")
• Thereus praxis (Godman & Salvin, [1887])
• Thereus pseudarcula (Giacomelli, 1914) (type species of Solanorum)
• Thereus tiasa (Hewitson, 1869)
• Thereus timoclea (Hewitson, 1870)
• Thereus wojtusiaki Bálint, 2006

In addition, a number of as yet undescribed butterflies are suspected to belong here too:

• Thereus sp. 'Amazonia'
• Thereus sp. 'Bahia'
• Thereus sp. 'Guatemala'
• Thereus sp. 'Ecuador 1'
• Thereus sp. 'Ecuador 2'
• Thereus sp. 'Panama 1'
• Thereus sp. 'Panama 2'
• ?Thereus sp. 'Panama 3' (tentatively placed here)
• Thereus sp. 'Peru'

Data related to Thereus at Wikispecies

References

• Savela, Markku. "Thereus Hübner, [1819]". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved September 30, 2019.