• Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

• Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

• Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

• Insects (Class Insecta)

• Butterflies and Moths (Order Lepidoptera)

• Butterflies (Superfamily Papilionoidea)

• Skipper Butterflies (Family Theclinae)

• Dicot Skippers (Subfamily Eudaminae)

• Tribe Phocidini

• Genus Phocides

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Genus Phocides is a genus of large, striking longtail skippers in the family Hesperiidae, distributed from the southern United States and Mexico through Central America and into South America. Members of this genus are easily recognized by their elongated hindwing tails, powerful flight, and dark brown to black wings marked with bold white, cream, blue, or iridescent patches. These butterflies inhabit tropical forests, woodland edges, tropical dry forests, and secondary growth, where adults visit flowers for nectar and often patrol sunny clearings with rapid, purposeful flight.