| Pamphilites Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Hesperiidae |
| Subfamily: | Hesperiinae |
| Genus: | † Pamphilites |
| Species: | †P. abdita |
| Binomial name | |
| †Pamphilites abdita Scudder, 1875 | |
Pamphilites is an extinct genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae. It contains only one fossil species, Pamphilites abdita, recovered from the Tertiary of Aix-en-Provence, France. [1]
Pamphilites abdita was described in 1875 by the American entomologist and paleontologist Samuel Hubbard Scudder. The fossil was a single forewing recovered from the Lower Oligocene in Aix-en-Provence, France. The fossil wing is believed to have belonged to a female as it was lacking a prominent stigma (a patch of androconial scales). [2]
The type specimen, however, has since been lost. [2]
Based on the shape and venation of the fossil wing, Scudder classified it as belonging to the subfamily Hesperiinae of the skipper butterfly family (Hesperiidae). Skipper butterflies belong to the superfamily Hesperioidea of the order Lepidoptera. [2] [3]
Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy places the family in the superfamily Papilionoidea, the butterflies. They are named for their quick, darting flight habits. Most have their antenna tips modified into narrow, hook-like projections. Moreover, skippers mostly have an absence of wing-coupling structure available in most moths. More than 3500 species of skippers are recognized, and they occur worldwide, but with the greatest diversity in the Neotropical regions of Central and South America.
The superfamily Papilionoidea contains all the butterflies except for the moth-like Hedyloidea.
Pyrgus malvae, the grizzled skipper, is a butterfly species from the family Hesperiidae. It is a small skipper (butterfly) with a chequered pattern on its wings that appears to be black and white. This butterfly can be found throughout Europe and is common in central and southern regions of England. The butterfly prefers three major types of habitat: woodland, grassland, and industrial. Referenced as a superspecies, Pyrgus malvae includes three semispecies: malvae, malvoides, and melotis. Eggs are laid on plants that will provide warmth and proper nutrition for development. As larvae, their movement is usually restricted to a single plant, on which they will build tents, unless they move onto a second host plant. Larvae then spin cocoons, usually on the last host plant they have occupied, where they remain until spring. Upon emerging as adult butterflies, grizzled skippers are quite active during the day and tend to favour blue or violet-coloured plants for food. They also possess multiple methods of communication; for example, vibrations are used to communicate with ants, and chemical secretions play a role in mating. Exhibiting territorial behaviour, males apply perching and patrolling strategies to mate with a desired female.
Grass skippers or banded skippers are butterflies of the subfamily Hesperiinae, part of the skipper family, Hesperiidae. The subfamily was established by Pierre André Latreille in 1809.
Butterfly evolution is the origin and diversification of butterflies through geologic time and over a large portion of the Earth's surface. The earliest known butterfly fossils are from the mid Eocene epoch, between 40-50 million years ago. Their development is closely linked to the evolution of flowering plants, since both adult butterflies and caterpillars feed on flowering plants. Of the 220,000 species of Lepidoptera, about 45,000 species are butterflies, which probably evolved from moths. Butterflies are found throughout the world, except in Antarctica, and are especially numerous in the tropics; they fall into eight different families.
Firetips or firetail skippers are skipper butterflies in the subfamily Pyrrhopyginae. The roughly 150 species are found only in the Neotropics, with the exception of one species which just reaches into the United States. Their common names refer to the red tuft at the end of the abdomen of many Pyrrhopyginae.
The Hesperiini or branded grass skippers are a tribe in the Hesperiinae subfamily of skipper butterflies. They are known as branded grass skippers because all the males in this tribe feature a black diagonal brand of scales on their forewings that exude pheromones to attract females.
The Ancistroidini are a tribe in the Hesperiinae subfamily of skipper butterflies. They are often blackish in base color; several of the genera contain the species commonly called "demon butterflies" or "demon skippers". As most Hesperiinae have not yet been assigned to tribes, more genera are likely to be placed into this presently rather small group eventually.
Thaites ruminiana, is the only species of the extinct genus, Thaites. It was described by Samuel Hubbard Scudder in 1875, after discovery in Aix-en-Provence, Southern France. It is a fossil swallowtail butterfly.
Trapezitinae is a subfamily of the Hesperiidae ("skippers") family of butterflies. They are found only in New Guinea and Australia. The subfamily contains about 60 species in 20 genera.
Autochton is a genus of skipper butterflies. They belong to the subfamily Eudaminae, which was long included with the spread-winged skippers (Pyrginae) as a tribe. They are found from Mexico to South America.
Heliopetes is a Neotropical genus of spread-winged skipper butterflies in the family Hesperiidae.
Piruna is a genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae.
Punta punta is a species of skipper butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Punta.
The Carcharodini are a tribe in the skipper butterfly subfamily Pyrginae. They are a very diverse but quite plesiomorphic and inconspicuous group distributed throughout the tropics.
Coeliades pisistratus, the two-pip policeman, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae that occurs commonly in much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Prehistoric Lepidoptera are both butterflies and moths that lived before recorded history. The fossil record for Lepidoptera is lacking in comparison to other winged species, and tending not to be as common as some other insects in the habitats that are most conducive to fossilization, such as lakes and ponds, and their juvenile stage has only the head capsule as a hard part that might be preserved. Yet there are fossils, some preserved in amber and some in very fine sediments. Leaf mines are also seen in fossil leaves, although the interpretation of them is tricky. Putative fossil stem group representatives of Amphiesmenoptera are known from the Triassic.
Notamblyscirtes is a genus of grass skippers in the butterfly family Hesperiidae. There is one described species in Notamblyscirtes, N. simius.
Burnsius is a genus of New World checkered-skippers in the butterfly family Hesperiidae. The genus was erected by Nick V. Grishin in 2019.
Chirgus is a genus of checkered-skippers, white-skippers, and allies in the butterfly family Hesperiidae, found in the New World. The genus was erected by Nick V. Grishin in 2019. There are about six described species in Chirgus.
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