Kingdom Animalia Family Nymphalidae Phylum Arthropoda Order Butterflies and moths | Class Insecta Subfamily Satyrinae Rank Genus | |
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Similar Argyrophorus argenteus, Butterflies and moths, Pronophilina | ||
Argyrophorus is a butterfly genus from the subfamily Satyrinae in the family Nymphalidae. It is distributed between Chile, Argentina and Perú. The systematic and circunscription of the genus is disputed.
Taxonomy and Systematics
Type species by monotypy is Argyrophorus argenteus Blanchard, 1852. Lamas recognised 4 species in the Neotropics, including the type species and 3 undescribed species.
Several species of southern temperate satyrinae have been assigned initially to the genus Argyrophorus, but taxonomic work during the 1950s and 1960s placed many of these in distinct genera. The recent description of a new species, with two distinct subspecies, raised the question of the validity of those genera (Neomaniola, Pampasatyrus, Pamperis, Punargenteus, Etcheverrius, Palmaris, Stuardosatyrus, Chilanella and Pseudocercyonis), but did not provided a resolved and conclusive synonymy for the group.
Traditionally Argyrophorus has been considered a representative of the subtribe Pronophilina, but Viloria found it to be closer related to the Hypocystina. This later arrangement has been challenged by phylogenetic analysis based on molecular data.