Euriphene is a butterfly genus in the subfamily Limenitidinae. The 70 or so member species are confined to the Afrotropical realm. They are found mainly in the Guinean Forests of West Africa and the Congolian forests.
Description Euriphene species resemble Bebearia. The upperside ground colour of the males of some species is grey overlain with a metallic steely-blue sheen (E. barombina, E. coerulea and E. veronica). In other species the ground colour is reddish brown (E. lysandra and E. gambiae). All the species have distinctive dark bars in the forewing cell and suffused dark markings on the rest of the wings. Many have an apical arc of small white spots.Bernard d'Abrera, 2004 Butterflies of the Afrotropical Region, Part 2: Nymphalidae, Libytheidae SBN 978-0-947352-45-5 The head is wide with long, erect palpi. The antennae are very long, with a gradually-formed, robust club. The thorax is robust and woolly. The wing characters are forewings moderately large; costa very much arched; apex rather acute; hind-margin nearly straight. Hindwings sub-oval; hindmargin entire, or not strongly scalloped. The abdomen is rather small.
Taxonomy The type species of the genus is Aterica tadema Hewitson.
Species Listed alphabetically within species groups:"Euriphene Boisduval, 1847" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms Subgenus Doricleana Hecq, 1994 Euriphene doriclea (Drury, 1782) Euriphene lysandra (Stoll, ) Euriphene melanops (Aurivillius, 1898) Euriphene paralysandra d'Abrera, 2004 Subgenus Euriphenaria Hecq, 1994 The goniogramma species group Euriphene batesana Bethune-Baker, 1926 Euriphene butleri (Aurivillius, 1904) Euriphene camarensis (Ward, 1871) Euriphene goniogramma (Karsch, 1894) Euriphene ituriensis (Jackson & Howarth, 1957) Euriphene luteostriata (Bethune-Baker, 1908) Euriphene mundula (Grünberg, 1910) Euriphene obtusangula (Aurivillius, 1912) Euriphene pinkieana Bernardi, 1975 Euriphene ribensis (Ward, 1871) Euriphene tessmanniana (Bryk, 1915) The duseni species group Euriphene adumbrata (Joicey & Talbot, 1928) Euriphene canui Hecq, 1987 Euriphene duseni (Aurivillius, 1893) Euriphene minkoi Bernardi, 1993 The atossa species group Euriphene ampedusa (Hewitson, 1866) Euriphene atossa (Hewitson, 1865) Euriphene leonis (Aurivillius, 1899) The gambiae species group Euriphene gambiae Feisthamel, 1850 The barombina species group Euriphene abasa (Hewitson, 1866) Euriphene alberici (Dufrane, 1945) Euriphene amaranta (Karsch, 1894) Euriphene amicia (Hewitson, 1871) Euriphene amieti Collins & Larsen, 1997 Euriphene anaxibia Hecq, 1997 Euriphene aridatha (Hewitson, 1866) Euriphene atropurpurea (Aurivillius, 1894) Euriphene atrovirens (Mabille, 1878) Euriphene barombina (Aurivillius, 1894) Euriphene bernaudi Hecq, 1994 Euriphene coerulea Boisduval, 1847 Euriphene conjungens (Aurivillius, 1909) Euriphene core Hecq, 1994 Euriphene ernestibaumanni (Karsch, 1895) Euriphene excelsior (Rebel, 1911) Euriphene fouassini Hecq, 1994 Euriphene glaucopis Gaede, 1915 Euriphene grosesmithi (Staudinger, 1891) Euriphene hecqui Collins & Larsen, 1997 Euriphene incerta (Aurivillius, 1912) Euriphene intermixta (Aurivillius, 1904) Euriphene iris (Aurivillius, 1903) Euriphene jacksoni (Talbot, 1937) Euriphene jolyana Hecq, 1987 Euriphene kahli (Holland, 1920) Euriphene karschi (Aurivillius, 1894) Euriphene larseni Hecq, 1994 Euriphene lomaensis Belcastro, 1986 Euriphene mawamba (Bethune-Baker, 1908) Euriphene milnei (Hewitson, 1865) Euriphene moloukou Hecq, 2002 Euriphene monforti Hecq, 1994 Euriphene niepelti Neustetter, 1916 Euriphene obani Wojtusiak & Knoop, 1994 Euriphene obsoleta (Grünberg, 1908) Euriphene pallidior (Hulstaert, 1924) Euriphene pavo (Howarth, 1959) Euriphene plagiata (Aurivillius, 1898) Euriphene rectangula (Schultze, 1920) Euriphene regula Hecq, 1994 Euriphene saphirina Karsch, 1894 Euriphene schultzei (Aurivillius, 1909) Euriphene simplex (Staudinger, 1891) Euriphene splendida Collins & Larsen, 1997 Euriphene tadema (Hewitson, 1866) Euriphene veronica (Stoll, 1780) Unknown species group Euriphene aurivillii (Bartel, 1905) Euriphene epe Pyrcz & Larsen, 2009 Euriphene kiki Bernardi & Larsen, 1980 Euriphene romi (Aurivillius, 1898) Euriphene rotundata (Holland, 1920) Euriphene taigola Sáfián & Warren-Gash, 2009
References
Jacques Hecq, 2002 Schmetterlinge der Erde, Butterflies of the World Part 15 Euriphene Edited by Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Keltern. Goecke & Evers; Canterbury : Hillside Books. Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 37 et seq. as Diestogyna
External links
Euriphene types Royal Museum for Central Africa images Images representing Euriphene at Consortium for the Barcode of Life