Brassolini

Brassolini
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Eryphanis aesacus museum specimen
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
(unranked):	Rhopalocera
Superfamily:	Papilionoidea
Family:	Nymphalidae
Subfamily:	Morphinae (disputed)
Tribe:	Brassolini Boisduval, 1836
Subtribes
Biina (but see text) Brassolina Naropina
Synonyms
Brassolidae Brassolinae

Brassolini is a tribe usually placed in the brush-footed butterfly subfamily Morphinae, which is often included in the Satyrinae as a tribe Morphini. If this is accepted, the Brassolini become the sister tribe of the Morphini among the Satyrinae. Formerly, they were treated as an independent family Brassolidae or subfamily Brassolinae. Many members of this tribe are called owl butterflies.

The Brassolini contain 17 genera in two or three subtribes, depending whether the enigmatic genus Bia is assigned here as the most basal lineage. The other genera are divided into one small and more ancestral subtribe, and a more advanced one that unites the bulk of the genera.

Genera

Genera are listed in the presumed phylogenetic sequence.

Subtribe Biina (tentatively placed here)

• Bia

Subtribe Naropina

• Aponarope
• Narope

Subtribe Brassolina

• Brassolis
• Dynastor
• Dasyophthalma
• Opoptera (= Mimoblepia)
• Caligo – giant owl butterflies
• Caligopsis
• Eryphanis
• Selenophanes
• Penetes
• Catoblepia
• Mielkella
• Orobrassolis
• Blepolenis
• Opsiphanes

References

• Penz, Carla M. (2007) Evaluating the monophyly and phylogenetic relationships of Brassolini genera (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae). Systematic Entomology, 32: 668-689.
• Wahlberg, Niklas & Brower, Andrew V.Z. (2008): Tree of Life Web Project – Brassolini. Version of 2008-JAN-30. Retrieved 2009-APR-07.
• Brassolini Virtual Collection. Penz, Carla, Web-based resource: http://fs.uno.edu/cpenz/Brassolini.html Retrieved 2012-MAR-13.
• Research on Brassolini. Penz, Carla, Web-based resource: http://fs.uno.edu/cpenz/rese-brassolini.html Retrieved 2012-MAR-13.