Anaea are a genus of charaxine butterflies in the brush-footed butterfly family Nymphalidae.[1][2] The butterflies are commonly known as leafwings. Members of the genus are found throughout the United States, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Anaea
Anaea aidea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Tribe: Anaeini
Genus: Anaea
Hübner, [1819]
Type species
Papilio troglodyta
Fabricius, 1775
Species

See list

The genus was described by Jacob Hübner in 1819 and formerly contained 225 different species of butterflies. Subsequent revisions to the genus have narrowed the genus to contain three species: its type species, Anaea troglodyta; Anaea aidea; and Anaea andria.

Taxonomy edit

Anaea was formerly considered as one of the largest butterfly genera.[3] At its peak, it contained over 225 different species of butterflies.[4] The genus had formerly contained almost all members of the subfamily Charaxinae found in the Neotropical realm.[5] Eventually, several species were placed into the related genera Memphis and Fountainea.[6] Members of the genus Memphis have been considered a separate genus from Anaea (Pelham 2008) or as a subspecies within Anaea (Caldas 1994) by different authorities.[7][6] The butterfly genus was described as being "a fauna that far outstrips anything comparable elsewhere", having "commanded the admiration of even the most gold-mad conquistadores".[3] The type species for the genus is Anaea troglodyta, described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775 as Papilio troglodyta in Systema entomologiae.[8]

The genus Anaea is sometimes recognized as a monotypic genus consisting solely of Anaea troglodyta.[9] This monotypic interpretation is in line with Gerardo Lamas' 2004 description in Checklist of Neotropical Butterflies : Part 4A Hesperioidea - Papilionoidea.[10] The Integrated Taxonomic Information System, citing Johnathan P. Pelham's 2008 A catalogue of the butterflies of the United States and Canada with a complete bibliography of the descriptive and systematic literature instead lists three species: A. aidea, A. andria, and A. troglodyta.[11] Pelham's three-species classification is accepted by BugGuide[6] and Butterflies of America.[12]

Life history edit

The genus Anaea is associated with its host plant being members of the genus Croton.[5] A. aidea feeds on Croton humilis,[13] A. andria feeds on Croton monanthogynus and Croton texensis,[14] and A. troglodyta feeds on Croton cascarilla.[15][16]

The butterflies show variable seasonal forms depending on emergence, with both wet (winter) and dry (summer) season forms.[4]

Distribution edit

The butterflies are found throughout the Central and Southern portions of North America. Anaea aidea is found from Costa Rica and north into Mexico. It can stray north into the United States, as far north as the state of Kansas.[17] Anaea andria is found throughout the Eastern and Southern United States, in the states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming.[14][18] It can stray into Mexico and Southern Canada (Ontario).[19][20] It is listed as "Critically Imperiled" in Virginia, and "Vulnerable" in Indiana according to NatureServe's conservation status.[18] Anaea troglodyta is found on the southern portion of peninsular Florida and the Florida Keys, as well as most of the Caribbean, including: the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Hispaniola, Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.[21] NatureServe and the National Park Service lists subspecies floridalis as being restricted to Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park.[22][23]

Species edit

Photograph Scientific name Common Name Distribution
  Anaea aidea
(Guérin-Méneville, 1844)
Tropical leafwing Southern United States and Central America
  Anaea andria
Scudder, 1875
Goatweed leafwing
Goatweed butterfly
Central and Southern United States and Mexico
  Anaea troglodyta
(Fabricius, 1775)
Florida leafwing
Cuban red leaf butterfly
Southern Florida and Caribbean

References edit

  1. ^ "Anaea Hübner, 1819". www.gbif.org. GBIF. Archived from the original on 2022-03-27. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
  2. ^ "ITIS - Report: Anaea". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2022-03-27. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
  3. ^ a b Klots, A. B. (1 March 1957). "Butterflies of the American Tropics, The Genus Anaea". Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America. 3 (1): 40. doi:10.1093/besa/3.1.40a. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b Johnson, Frank; Comstock, William Phillips (1941). "Anaea of the Antilles and Their Continental Relationships with Descriptions of New Species, Subspecies and Forms (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera, Nymphalidæ)". Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 49 (4): 301–343. ISSN 0028-7199. JSTOR 25004935. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  5. ^ a b Queiroz, J. M. (November 2002). "Host plant use among closely related Anaea butterfly species (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Charaxinae)". Brazilian Journal of Biology. 62 (4a): 657–663. doi:10.1590/S1519-69842002000400014. PMID 12659016.
  6. ^ a b c "Genus Anaea - Leafwings". BugGuide. Iowa State University. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  7. ^ Caldas, Astrid (1994). "Biology of Anaea ryphea (Nymphalidae) in Campinas, Brazil" (PDF). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society. 48: 248–257. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  8. ^ "ANAEA - Butterflies and Moths of the World". Natural History Museum, London. The Trustees of The Natural History Museum, London. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  9. ^ Savela, Markku. "Anaea Hübner, [1819]". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  10. ^ Lamas G ed. (2004) Checklist of Neotropical Butterflies : Part 4A Hesperioidea - Papilionoidea. Gainesville: Scientific Publishers/Association of Tropical Lepidoptera.
  11. ^ "ITIS - Report: Anaea Hübner, 1819". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Genus Anaea". Butterflies of America. Butterflies of America Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  13. ^ Dauphin, Jan (29 June 2015). "TROPICAL LEAFWING - Anaea aidea LIFE CYCLE STUDY". The Rio Grande Valley's Nature Site. Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Goatweed Leafwing Anaea andria Scudder, 1875". Butterflies and Moths of North America. Metalmark Web and Data. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Florida Leafwing Anaea troglodyta floridalis F. Johnson & W.P. Comstock, 1941". Butterflies and Moths of North America. Metalmark Web and Data. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Species Anaea troglodyta - Florida Leafwing - Hodges#4553". BugGuide. Iowa State University. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Tropical Leafwing Anaea aidea (Guérin-Méneville, [1844])". Butterflies and Moths of North America. 2022 Metalmark Web and Data. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Anaea andria Goatweed Leafwing". NatureServe Explorer 2.0. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  19. ^ Cavasin, Rick. "Goatweed Leafwing". Butterflies of Ontario. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  20. ^ "153.1. Goatweed Leafwing, Anaea andria". ONTARIO BUTTERFLY ATLAS. Toronto Entomologists' Association. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  21. ^ Hill, Armas. "BUTTERFLIES and MOTHS in the West Indies of the Caribbean" (PDF). Focus on Nature Tours. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-03-27. (Range: in the Caribbean, in Jamaica, Cuba, Grand Cayman, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and some of the Lesser Antilles)
  22. ^ "Anaea troglodyta floridalis Florida Leafwing". NatureServe Explorer 2.0. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  23. ^ "Florida Leafwing - Everglades National Park". U.S. National Park Service. 17 October 2017. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.