Nymphalidae is a family in the order Lepidoptera from the suborder papilionidae. With a composition of upto 6000 species, Nymphalidae is indeed the most abundant and largest family of butterflies. With a humongous amount of existing information about over thousands of species. Individuals from this family are commonly known as Brush-Footed Butterflies.
Morphology[]
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Polyommatus icarus (Male)
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As the name applies, every individual species has soft, tender setae in the form of pads on their forelegs, they tend to stand with only 4 legs with the third pair being curled inwards. They are mostly small-sized with delicate, soft wings vividly painted with vibrant and iridescent scales. Many species have a wing morphological feature known as wing transparency which refers to transparent window planes of the wings of some certain species. This is quite unique and rare among lepidopterans. Most species from this family have a velvety setae covering their wings, the margin of the wings is very smooth. They are also known for being charmingly small in size.
Taxonomy Tree[]
Subfamilies[]
Libetheine Clade[]
- Libytheinae
Danine Clade[]
- Danainae
- Ithomiini
- Tellervini
Satyrine Clade[]
- Calinaginae
- Charaxinae
- Morphinae
- Brassolinae
- Satyrinae
Heliconiine Clade[]
- Heliconiinae
- Acraeini
- Limenitidinae
Nymphaline Clade[]
- Apaturinae
- Biblidiniae
- Cyrestinae
- Nymphalinae