Vanessa (butterfly)
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 red admiral, Vanessa atalanta
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Some 20, see text. |
Vanessa is a genus of brush-footed butterflies. Most are familiar with it, as it has a near-global distribution and includes conspicuous species such as the red admirals (e.g. Red Admiral, Indian Red Admiral, New Zealand Red Admiral), the Kamehameha butterfly, or the painted ladies of subgenus Cynthia: Painted Lady, American Lady, Australian Painted Lady, etc.
The name of the genus may have been taken from the girl's name. Though it has been suggested the name may be a variant of "Phanessa", from an Ancient Greek word for a mystic divinity, this is unlikely. The name of the divinity is actually not "Phanessa" but Phanes. Johan Christian Fabricius, the entomologist who named this genus, normally used the original forms of the names of Classical divinities when he created new scientific names.
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[edit] In Popular Culture
John Shade discusses the Vanessa genus in reference to his wife in Nabokov's Pale Fire. [1]
[edit] Species
- Abyssinian Admiral, Vanessa abyssinica (C. & R. Felder, 1867)
- Vanessa altissima (Rosenberg et Talbot, 1914)
- West Coast Lady, Vanessa annabella
- Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta
- Vanessa braziliensis (Moore, 1883)
- Vanessa buana (Fruhstorfer, 1898)
- Vanessa calliroe (Hübner, 1808)
- Painted Lady, Vanessa morrison
- Vanessa carye (Hübner, 1812)
- Vanessa dejeanii (Godart, 1824)
- Vanessa dilekta
- New Zealand Red Admiral, Vanessa gonerilla
- Indian Red Admiral or Asian Admiral, Vanessa indica
- Yellow Admiral, Vanessa itea
- Australian Painted Lady, Vanessa kershawi
- Vanessa myrinna (Doubleday, 1849)
- Vanessa samani (Hagen, 1895)
- Kamehameha butterfly, Vanessa tameamea
- Vanessa terpsichore Philipi, 1859
- American Painted Lady, Vanessa virginiensis
- Canary Red Admiral, Vanessa vulcania (Godart, 1819)
[edit] References
- ^ See pg 133 of Nabokov, Vladimir. Pale Fire. New York: Everyman's Library 1992
[edit] External links
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