Amathusiidae

[daveuk]

Very fond of this family.
Some Vietnamese species recently acquired
Two male Faunis eumeus shown verso & recto
A male Enispe euthymius sychaeus (recto)
A male Discophora deo fruhstorferi (recto)

[adamcotton]

I edited the subject, as 'Amathusiidae' has two 'i's.

In reality nowadays this 'family' is considered a tribe (Amathusiini) in subfamily Morphinae (yes, Morpho and its relatives are a subfamily) of family Nymphalidae.

Adam.

[daveuk]

It seems the spelling of this family/tribe seems to differ depending on what book you are reading. Have seen at least three versions. Think I went with D'abrera in this instance. Foolishly perhaps.

[adamcotton]

It is not so difficult to work out whether there should be one 'i' or two in a family group name, as the family group name is always derived from the relevant genus name. In this case it is based on genus Amathusia. To form the family group name the 'a' is removed and '-idae', '-inae' or '-ini' is added (family, subfamily or tribe respectively) at the end. So in this case there are two 'i's as a result.

Note that once a family group name has been proposed, whether at superfamily, family, subfamily or tribe rank, the ending can be changed according to rank assigned within the family group with the same original author + year for each rank. Of course the author + year for the family group name is not the same as that of the genus name, unless the author of the genus proposed the family group name at the same time.

Adam.

[Paul K]

It is not so difficult to work out whether there should be one 'i' or two in a family group name, as the family group name is always derived from the relevant genus name. In this case it is based on genus Amathusia. To form the family group name the 'a' is removed and '-idae', '-inae' or '-ini' is added (family, subfamily or tribe respectively) at the end. So in this case there are two 'i's as a result.

Note that once a family group name has been proposed, whether at superfamily, family, subfamily or tribe rank, the ending can be changed according to rank assigned within the family group with the same original author + year for each rank. Of course the author + year for the family group name is not the same as that of the genus name, unless the author of the genus proposed the family group name at the same time.

Adam.

Is it then Nymphalidae should have two ‘I’s as well as it is derived from Nymphalis ?

[Trehopr1]

Wow, each and every one of those is "stunning" in its own way !

I have nothing like any of these.

The butterflies of this tribe are surely the most exotic looking butterflies in Southeast Asia for their wing shapes and ever curious markings/patterns.

I can easily see why they have been something of a magnet for your attention. Thank you so much Dave for sharing all of these with us !!

[adamcotton]

Is it then Nymphalidae should have two ‘I’s as well as it is derived from Nymphalis ?

No, because the Latin ending in this case is actually '-alis' rather than just '-s'. I suppose the family name was formed by removing '-is' which would be a genitive ending as per Code article 29.3.1.
"If a generic name is or ends in a Greek or Latin word, or ends in a Greek or Latin suffix, the stem for the purposes of the Code is found by deleting the case ending of the appropriate genitive singular."

I am not a Latin scholar so cannot confirm this, but presumably when the name Nymphalidae was proposed it was correctly formed.

Adam.

[daveuk]

Wow, each and every one of those is "stunning" in its own way !

I have nothing like any of these.

The butterflies of this tribe are surely the most exotic looking butterflies in Southeast Asia for their wing shapes and ever curious markings/patterns.

I can easily see why they have been something of a magnet for your attention. Thank you so much Dave for sharing all of these with us !!

Thanks again trehopr. Glad you like them. Such a varied & beautiful group I have always thought. Will find more examples to photograph & post in due course.