Thereus


Thereus is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies. Among these, it belongs belong to the tribe Eumaeini of the subfamily Theclinae. These small butterflies occur essentially all over the Neotropics.

Classification

Though this genus was first proposed long ago, for much of the time Thereus was included in the "wastebin genus" Thecla. However, the two genera are not particularly close relatives among their subfamily. In recent times, it has been proposed to remove several species from Thereus to smaller or even monotypic genera. While this might be warranted in some cases, it is not followed here pending more thorough study.
The junior synonyms of Thereus are thus:
The following named species are placed in Thereus at present:
In addition, a number of as yet undescribed butterflies are suspected to belong here too: