Genus Vanessa Fabricius, 1807

Museums

Regional Maps

• Vanessa Fabricius, J.C. 1807. Systema glossatorum. In Illiger, Die neueste Gattungs-Eintheilung der Schmetterlinge aus den Linnéischen Gattungen Papilio und Sphinx. Magazin für Insektenkunde (Illiger) 6: 279-289 [281] [this name has been placed on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology (Name No. 601); it is the subject of International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1944. Opinion 156. Suspension of the Rules for Vanessa Fabricius, 1807 (Class Insecta, Order Lepidoptera). Opinions and Declarations rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 2: 239–250, Vanessa Fabricius, 1807 being given precedence over Cynthia Fabricius, 1807].

  Type species:

   Papilio atalanta Linnaeus, 1758 by subsequent designation, see Latreille, P.A. 1810. Considération Générales sur l'Order Naturel des Animaux Composant les Classes des Crustacés, des Arachnides et des Insectes; avec un Tableau Méthodique de leurs Genres Disposés en Familles. Paris : F. Schoell viii 444 pp. [this work is the subject of Opinions 11 and 136, ICZN, and is on the Official List of Works approved as available for Zoological Nomenclature] [440, 354].

  Secondary source:

   International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1944. Opinion 156. Suspension of the Rules for Vanessa Fabricius, 1807 (Class Insecta, Order Lepidoptera). Opinions and Declarations rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 2: 239-250.
• Cynthia Fabricius, J.C. 1807. Systema glossatorum. In Illiger, Die neueste Gattungs-Eintheilung der Schmetterlinge aus den Linnéischen Gattungen Papilio und Sphinx. Magazin für Insektenkunde (Illiger) 6: 279-289 [281] [Cynthia Fabricius, 1807 has been placed on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology (Name No. 805); it is the subject of International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1944. Opinion 156. Suspension of the Rules for Vanessa Fabricius, 1807 (Class Insecta, Order Lepidoptera). Opinions and Declarations rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 2: 239–250, Vanessa Fabricius, 1807 being given precedence over Cynthia Fabricius, 1807].

  Type species:

   Papilio cardui Linnaeus, 1758 by subsequent designation, see Westwood, J.O. 1840. An Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects; founded on the natural habits and corresponding organization of the different families. London Vol. 2 (Synopsis of the genera of the British insects.) 158 pp. [87].
• Nymphalis Latreille, P.A. 1804. Tableau méthodique des insectes. pp. 129-200 in Société de Naturalistes et d'Agriculteurs, Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, principalement à l'agriculture et à l'économie rurale et domestique. Tome XXIV. [Section 3:] tableaux méthodiques d'histoire naturelle. Déterville : Paris. pp. 84 + 4 + 85 + 238 + 18 + 34. [184, 199] [junior homonym of Nymphalis Kluk, 1802 (Lepidoptera) and objective synonym of Vanessa Fabricius, 1807].

  Type species:

   Papilio atalanta Linnaeus, 1758 by monotypy.
• Pyrameis Hübner, J. 1819 [1816–1826]. Verzeichniss bekannter Schmettlinge. Augsburg, Germany : Jacob Hübner 17-176 pp. [issued 1819, dated 1816–1826] [33] [junior objective synonym of Vanessa Fabricius, 1807].

  Type species:

   Papilio atalanta Linnaeus, 1758 by subsequent designation, see Scudder, S.H. 1875. Historical sketch of the generic names proposed for butterflies. A contribution to systematic nomenclature. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 10: 91-293 [260].
• Bassaris Hübner, J. 1821. Sammlung exotischer Schmetterlinge. Augsburg : Jacob Hübner (and by Geyer after Hübner's death). 2 pp. pls [11] [13] [24] … [117] [122] [147] [150] [164] [183] [195] [197] [212] [213] [214]. [this work is the subject of Opinion 276, ICZN, and is on the Offical List of Works approved as available for Zoological Nomenclature; issued 1821, dated 1806] [unnumbered on pl. 24].

  Type species:

   Papilio itea Fabricius, 1775 by monotypy.
• Ammiralis Rennie, J. 1832. A Conspectus of the Butterflies and Moths Found in Britain; with their English and systematic names, times of appearance, sizes, colours, their caterpillars, and various localities. London : William Orr xxxiii [iii] 287 pp. [10] [junior objective synonym of Vanessa Fabricius, 1807].

  Type species:

   Papilio atalanta Linnaeus, 1758 by monotypy.
• Phanessa Sodoffsky, [Sodovskii] C.H.W. 1837. Etymologische Untersuchungen ueber die Gattungsnamen der Schmetterlinge. Bulletin de la Société des Naturalistes de Moscou 1837(6): [76]-[99] (separate paginated 1, 4-24) [80] [junior objective synonym of Vanessa Fabricius, 1807, unnecessary replacement name for Vanessa Fabricius, 1807].

  Type species:

   Papilio atalanta Linnaeus, 1758 by indication.
• Neopyrameis Scudder, S.H. 1889. The Butterflies of the Eastern United States and Canada with Special Reference to New England. Cambridge, Mass. : Scudder Vol. 1 xxiv 766 pp. [434] [junior objective synonym of Cynthia Fabricius, 1807].

  Type species:

   Papilio cardui Linnaeus, 1758 by monotypy.
• Fieldia Niculescu, E.V. 1979. Contributions morphologiques et taxonomiques à l'étude du genre Vanessa (sensu lato) (Lepidoptera—Nymphalidae). Revue verviétoise d'Histoire naturelle 36(1–3): 2-6 [3] [first made available as a subgenus of Vanessa Fabricius, 1807].

  Type species:

   Hamadryas carye Hübner, 1812 by original designation.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Edwards, E.D. 1996. Nymphalidae. pp. 243-248, 359-360 in Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangsi, T.V. (eds). Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 4 xiv 529 pp. & CD-ROM. [246]
• Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangsi, T.V. (eds) 1996. Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 4 xiv 529 pp. & CD-ROM. [246]

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Other Regions

Lord Howe Island terrestrial & freshwater, Macquarie Island terrestrial & freshwater, Norfolk Island terrestrial & freshwater

General References

Ackery, P.R. 1988. Hostplants and classification: a review of nymphalid butterflies. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society of London 33: 95-203 [163] (bibliography)

Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xiv 682 pp. 49 pls. [396]

Field, W.D. 1971. Butterflies of the genus Vanessa and of the resurrected genera Bassaris and Cynthia (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 84: 1-105 [1] (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)

Field, W.D. 1971. Butterflies of the genus Vanessa and of the resurrected genera Bassaris and Cynthia (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 84: 1-105 [1]

History of changes