Polyommatinae | |
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Polyommatus icarus, in Austria. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Superfamily: | Papilionoidea |
Family: | Lycaenidae |
Subfamily: | Polyommatinae Swainson, 1827 |
Tribes | |
Polyommatinae, the blues, are a diverse subfamily of gossamer-winged butterflies (family Lycaenidae).
This subfamily was long used to assign taxa of unclear relationships, and its contents and phylogeny are still in need of revision. The following four tribes are generally recognized within Polyommatinae,[1] with Polyommatini comprising most of the genera and species:
The polyommatinae have variations of blue wing colouration which are due to the differences in the nanostructure of the body scales. [2]