Subfamily Pyrginae Higher classification Skipper | Family Hesperiidae Scientific name Pyrrhopygini Rank Tribe | |
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Similar Skipper, Butterfly, Butterflies and moths, Pyrrhopyge, Spread‑winged skipper | ||
Firetips or firetail skippers are the tribe Pyrrhopygini of the skipper butterflies (family Hesperiidae). 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 Pyrrhopygini.
They were formerly treated as distinct subfamily Pyrrhopyginae. But they actually belong to the large and diverse spread-winged skipper subfamily (Pyrginae), as the pyrgine tribe Tagiadini is their closest living relative.
Subtribes
Of the four recognized subtribes of firetail skippers, one (the Zoniina) is monotypic, containing only the species Zonia zonia. The subtribes are:
References
Firetips Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA