Eugraphe

Eugraphe
Eugraphe sigma imago
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Noctuidae
Subfamily: Noctuinae
Genus: Eugraphe
Hübner, [1821]
Type species
Noctua sigma
[Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775
Diversity
Possibly monotypic, but see text
Synonyms

Eugrapha (lapsus)
and see text

Eugraphe is a genus of noctuid moths (family Noctuidae). They belong to the tribe Xestiini of the typical noctuid subfamily Noctuinae, though some do not separate this tribe and include the genus in the Noctuini. It is closely related to Anagnorisma, Coenophila and Eugnorisma, and as it seems most closely to the first of these (see also below). The geographic range is Palearctic, north of the Alpides but including the Caucasus, and between the Arctic and the arid lands of Central Asia.[1]

Serving for some time to assemble some more or less superficially Xestiini, more recently most species have been moved elsewhere, e.g. to the newly established Goniographa and Pseudohermonassa, to the revalidated Ammogrotis, Coenophila and Hypernaenia (which had all been included in Eugraphe earlier[2]), or to the long-known Xestia (though placement there is still provisional). Indeed, it may be that the genus is monotypic, or turn out to be better considered a junior synonym or some earlier-described taxon. On the other hand, considering it was established early in the 19th century, it might also eventually come to include later-described genera as junior synonyms. And of course, given that Noctuidae are still being described on a regular basis, additional as yet discovered species might exist.[1]

  1. ^ a b Varga & Ronkay (2002)
  2. ^ Pitkin & Jenkins (2004), and see references in Savela (2009)