Tarucus

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Superfamilia: Papilionoidea

Familia: Lycaenidae
Subfamilia: Polyommatinae
Tribus: Polyommatini
Genus: Tarucus
Species:
T. ananda – T. balkanicus – T. bengalensis – T. bowkeri – T. callinara – T. extricatus – T. grammicus – T. hazara – T. indica – T. kiki – T. kulala – T. legrasi – T. nara – T. quadratus – T. rosacea – T. sybaris – T. theophrastus – T. thespis – T. ungemachi – T. venosus – T. waterstradti
Name

Tarucus Moore, [1881] (3):81

Type species: Hesperia theophrastus Fabricius, 1793: 281. By original designation.
References
Primary references

Moore, F., 1881. Lepidoptera of Ceylon Volume 1. L. Reeve & Co., London. 190 pp. 71 pls.

Additional references

Basu, D.N., Churi, P., Soman, A., Sengupta, A., Bhakare, M., Lokhande, S., Bhoite, S., Huertas, B. & Kunte, K. 2019. The genus Tarucus Moore, [1881] (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in the Indian Subcontinent. Tropical Lepidoptera Research 29(2): 87-110. Online. Reference page.
Bethune-Baker, G. T., 1917. A revision of the genus Tarucus. Trans. ent. Soc. Lond., 65: 269–296.
Evans, W. H., 1955. A revision of the genus Tarucus. Entomologist, 88: 179–187.
Fabricius, J. C., 1792 - 1799. Entomologia systematica… C.G. Proft, Copenhagen. 4 vols. + Suppl.
ten Hagen, W. 2008. Tarucus nara (Kollar, [1848]) und andere Arten des Genus: Tarucus Moore, [1881] in Iran (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo N.F. 29 (1–2): 19–23. Reference page.
Hirowatari, T. 1992: A generic classification of the tribe Polyommatini of the Oriental and Australian regions (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Polyommatinae). Bulletin of the University of Osaka Prefecture (B), 44(Suppl.)
Williams, M.C. 2007. Checklist of Afrotropical Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea. 7th Edn. (April 2007). Downloaded from Afrotropical Butterflies. Reference page.

Tarucus is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as blue Pierrots or simply Pierrots. The latter name is often used for the closely related genus Castalius. The delimitation of Castalius versus Tarucus is not yet fully resolved, with some species, such as the dark Pierrot (T. ananda), having been moved between the two genera repeatedly. It may even be that they are eventually regarded as synonymous, and in that case the older name Castalius would supersede Tarucus by the Principle of Priority.

Several species formerly in Tarucus were moved to Leptotes, another closely related lineage (though not quite as close as Castalius).

The caterpillars of this genus typically feed on Zizyphus and are attended by ants.

Species

The genus can be divided in two distinct groups. These are generally separated geographically, but some taxa (such as the black-spotted Pierrot, T. balkanicus nigra), though assigned to one group, occur in the range of the other. Consequently, it is not quite clear whether the groups are clades or merely convenient but paraphyletic assemblages:[1]

Afrotropical group:

Tarucus balkanicus – Balkan Pierrot, little tiger blue
Tarucus balkanicus nigra – black-spotted Pierrot
Tarucus bowkeri (Trimen, 1883) – Bowker's blue
Tarucus grammicus (Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1893) – black Pierrot
Tarucus kiki Larsen, 1976 – Kiki's Pierrot
Tarucus kulala Evans, 1955 – Turkana Pierrot
Tarucus legrasi Stempffer, 1944 – Le Gras' Pierrot
Tarucus quadratus Ogilvie-Grant, 1899
Tarucus rosacea (Austaut, 1885) – Mediterranean tiger blue, Mediterranean Pierrot
Tarucus sybaris (Hopffer, 1855) – Dotted blue
Tarucus theophrastus – pointed Pierrot, African Pierrot, common tiger blue
Tarucus thespis (Linnaeus, 1764) – Vivid blue
Tarucus ungemachi Stempffer, 1944 – Ungemach's Pierrot

South Asian group:

Tarucus ananda – dark Pierrot
Tarucus callinara – spotted Pierrot
Tarucus indica – Indian Pierrot
Tarucus nara – striped Pierrot
Tarucus venosus – veined Pierrot, Himalayan Pierrot
Tarucus waterstradti Druce, 1895
Tarucus waterstradti dharta – Assam Pierrot

Others:

Tarucus alteratus
Tarucus extricatus

Footnotes

Brower (2008), and see references in Savela (2009)

References
Wikispecies has information related to Tarucus.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tarucus.

Brower, Andrew V.Z. (2008): Tree of Life Web Project – Tarucus Moore 1881. The Blue Pierrots. Version of 19 May 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
Savela, Markku (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Tarucus. Version of 15 August 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 74 et prae