Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
The following are referred to subgenus Eurema, or alternatively (primarily by North American authors) treated as independent subgenera of Eurema or as full genera:
Abaeis Hübner 1819. Type species: Papilio nicippe Cramer
Pyrisitia Butler 1870. Type species: Papilio proterpia Fabricius
Teriocolias Röber 1909. Type species: Terias atinas Hewitson [= Eurema zelia (Lucas); Tericolias with only one species is not found in North America north of Mexico]
Explanation of Names
Eurema Hübner 1819
Except by North American authors, treatments of
Eurema generally place all American and a few Old World species of
Eurema, and the segregate genera
Abaeis Hübner,
Pyrisitia Butler, and
Teriocolias Röber, within
Eurema Hübner subgenus
Eurema [following Yata, 1989 'A Revision of the Old World Species of the Genus
Eurema' Pt. 1; as well as treatments of several other authors]. However, there has been a trend in recent decades to recognized these as four distinct genera (or at least subgenera) by some North American workers, and this treatment is commonly seen in contemporary literature on North American Butterflies; yet it is debated. While it is difficult to find justification for the separation of
Teriocolias,
Pyrisitia and
Abaeis from
Eurema (
Eurema), and it is possible that they are artificial groupings, they are treated separately on BugGuide, following the treatment of
Butterflies of America and that in
Jonathan Pelham's 'A Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada'.
Eurema subgenus Terias Swainson does not occur in the Americas, but contains a majority of species in the genus, and most of the Old World species of Eurema. Terias is sometimes treated as a distinct genus from Eurema. In the past the name Terias was sometimes thought to be the proper name for all Eurema, and in older works our species are often listed under that name.
The Neotropical genus Leucidia E. Doubleday, with only two species, is closely related, and likely should be included within Eurema. It does not occur in North America north of Mexico.
Numbers
5 spp. n. of Mexico (not including 4 species of
Pyrisitia and one of
Abaeis).
(1)Print References
Klots, Alexander B. 1928.
'A Revision of the Genus Eurema (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) Part I. 'New World Species, Morphology and Phylogeny'. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 36(1): 61-72, 74-77, 79
Yata, O. 1989.
'A Revision of the Old World Species of the genus Eurema Hübner (Lepidoptera, Pieridae)', Part I. 'Phylogeny and Zoogeography of the Subgenus
Terias and Desription of the Subgenus
Eurema'. Bulletin of the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History 9: 1-103.
