Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Lycaenidae | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Rank Genus | |
Similar Pycnophallium roxus, Pycnophallium elna, Caleta, Petrelaea, Castalius | ||
Pycnophallium is a genus-level name in the butterfly family Lycaenidae. The genus name was erected by the Dutch lepidopterist Lambertus Johannes Toxopeus in 1929. He included two Oriental species under this name: Pycnophallium roxus Godart and Pycnophallium elna Hewitson. These species had previously been treated as species in the genera Lycaena or Castalius until Hans Fruhstorfer erected Caleta in 1922. Although Caleta in the wide sense has not been fully revised since Fruhstorfer erected it, Hirowatari, 1992, made an authoritative classification of Oriental polyommatine genera. Hirowatari did not recognise Pycnophallium as a valid genus, but retained nine species, including roxus and elna in Caleta.
For systematic information on the nine species included in Caleta by Hirowatari, see Wikispecies.