Miletinae
| Harvesters | |
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| Oriental Miletinae | |
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| Subfamily: | Miletinae Corbet, 1939
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Allotinus | |
Miletinae is a subfamily of the Lycaenidae family of butterflies, commonly called harvesters and woolly legs, and virtually unique among butterflies in having predatory larvae. Miletinae are entirely aphytophagous (do not feed on plants). The ecology of the Miletinae is little understood, but adults and larvae live in association with ants, and most known species feed on Hemiptera (aphids, coccids, membracids, and psyllids), though some, like Liphyra, feed on the ants themselves. The butterflies, ants, and hemipterans, in some cases, seem to have complex symbiotic relationships benefiting all.[1]
Systematics
- Tribe Miletini
- Subtribe Miletina
- Miletus Hübner, [1819] Indomalaya ecozone
- Megalopalpus Röber, [1886] Afrotropic ecozone
- Allotinus C. & R. Felder, [1865] Indomalaya ecozone
- Logania Distant, 1884 Indomalaya ecozone
- Lontalius Eliot, 1986 Indomalaya ecozone
- Subtribe Spalgina
- Spalgis Moore, 1879 Indomalaya ecozone, Afrotropic ecozone
- Feniseca Grote, 1869 Nearctic ecozone (one species, Feniseca tarquinius)
- Subtribe Lachnocnemina
- Lachnocnema Trimen, 1887 Afrotropic ecozone
- Thestor Hübner, [1819] Afrotropic ecozone
- Subtribe Miletina
- Tribe Liphyrini
- Euliphyra Holland, 1890 Afrotropic ecozone
- Aslauga Kirby, 1890 Afrotropic ecozone
- Liphyra Westwood, [1864] Indomalaya ecozone, Australasian ecozone
- Tribe Tarakini Eliot, 1973
- Taraka Doherty, 1889 East Asian Palearctic ecozone, Indomalaya ecozone
References
- ^ Lohman, D.J.; Samarita, V.U. 2009: The biology of carnivorous butterfly larvae (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Miletinae: Miletini) and their ant-tended hemipteran prey in Thailand and the Philippines. Journal of natural history, 43: 569-581.
- Bernard d'Abrera (1986) Butterflies of the Oriental Region. Part 3: Lycaenidae and Riodinidae Hill House Publishers ISBN 0-9593639-4-7
- Bernard d'Abrera, (1980) Butterflies of the Afrotropical region based on Synonymic catalogue of the butterflies of the Ethiopian region by R.H. Carcasson. Lansdown Editions in association with E.W. Classey, Melbourne ISBN 0-7018-1029-7
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miletinae.
Wikispecies has information related to Miletinae.
- Biodiversity Explorer
- Royal Museum for Central Africa Images of Miletini (as Miletinae) [1]