Hamearis lucina, the Duke of Burgundy, the only member of the genus Hamearis, is a European butterfly in the family Riodinidae. For many years, it was known as the "Duke of Burgundy fritillary", because the adult's chequered pattern is strongly reminiscent of "true" fritillaries of the family Nymphalidae.
Taxonomy and systematics
Riodinidae is currently treated as a distinct family within the superfamily Papilionoidea, but in the past they were held to be the subfamily Riodininae of the Lycaenidae. Earlier, they were considered to be part of the now defunct family "Erycinidae", whose species are divided between this family and the subfamily Libytheinae.
The genus Hamearis, described by Jacob Hübner in 1819 is a monotypic genus of uncertain position (incertae sedis). Here it is considered part of subfamily Nemeobiinae, tribe Zemerini, within the metalmark butterfly family (Riodinidae).
The origin of the common name is not known and the species was once called Mr Vernon's small fritillary.
Description
The male has a wingspan of , and the female . The upperside of the wings are marked in a chequered pattern strongly reminiscent of a fritillary butterfly (family Nymphalidae); however, the Duke of Burgundy may be separated by its wing shape. Hamearis lucina also has a distinctive underwing pattern.
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(MHNT) Hamearis lucina - Slovensky kras- OP, Slovakia - male dorsal.jpg |Hamearis lucina ♂
(MHNT) Hamearis lucina - Slovensky kras- OP, Slovakia - male ventral.jpg |Hamearis lucina ♂ △
(MHNT) Hamearis lucina - Amiel Penne, Tarn, France - female dorsal.jpg|Hamearis lucina ♀
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Range
The species' range is restricted to the Western Palaearctic, from Spain, the UK and Sweden to the Balkans. but is considered of "least concern" on a Europe-wide basis.
Hamearis lucina was added to the UK Biodiversity Action Plan in 2007. It is also listed in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which requires anyone wishing to trade the species to have a licence. In the first decade of the 21st century the butterfly was in serious decline in the UK due to a lack of appropriate land management and overgrazing. Since 2003, twenty-two projects targeted the butterfly which reversed the threat of local extinction in the North York Moors, Kent and Sussex. It has recolonised former sites and colonised newly created habitat where it had not been previously recorded. From 2005 to 2016 the population trend was up 90% in the UK.
Habitat
Two distinct habitats are used in the UK:
Pupa
Pupae of H. lucina are short, just long. They are pale cream (somewhat tinged pink) with evenly spaced dark brown spots and a few pale hairs. They are found either very low in dense grass or on the ground. The pupal stage lasts nine months, with likely high mortality rates. Predators of pupae include shrews and slugs.
- Oxlip (Primula elatior)
In popular culture
Peter Strickland's film The Duke of Burgundy is named after this butterfly.
See also
- List of butterflies of Great Britain