Agrias is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of charaxine nymphalid

Nymphalidae

The Nymphalidae is a family of about 5,000 species of butterflies which are distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called...

 butterflies found in South

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

.

Prized by collectors, these large, showy butterflies have had hundreds of names applied to polymorphic

Polymorphism (biology)

Polymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph...

 variants.

Species

The following species are accepted by the Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera:

• Agrias aedon
• Agrias amydon
  Agrias amydon
  The Amydon Agrias or White-spotted Agrias is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from Mexico, south through Central America to South America....
  
  
• Agrias claudina
  Agrias claudina
  The Claudina Agrias is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found from Venezuela and Guyana to Bolivia. The subspecies sardanapalus is found in Ecuador, Brazil and Peru. It is found in primary and secondary rainforest at altitudes between 200 and 600 meters.The larvae feed on Erythroxylum...
  
  (including A. sardanapalus)
• Agrias hewitsonius
  Agrias hewitsonius
  Agrias hewitsonius is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in South America.-Subspecies:*Agrias hewitsonius hewitsonius *Agrias hewitsonius beatifica...
  
  
• Agrias narcissus
  Agrias narcissus
  Agrias narcissus is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in South America.-Subspecies:*Agrias narcissus narcissus *Agrias narcissus tapajonus...
  
  

Other authors differ, for instance in regarding A. narcissus as a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of A. aedon. Older literature, particularly that in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, is often confusing.

External links

• BOA Photographs of type
  Holotype
  A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
  
    specimens including subspecies and forma
• Agrias photographs Robert Aronheim collection
• Nymphalidae Study Group
• The Agrias Page
• Pteron (Japanese site with binomial names)