Papilionoidea

From Freepedia

? Papilionoidea
Image:Kamehamehabutterfly2.jpg Kamehameha
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Subkingdom: Metazoa Division: Rhopalocera Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Subclass: Pterygota Infraclass: Neoptera Superorder: Endopterygota Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Ditrysia Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Families
Papilionidae Pieridae Nymphalidae Lycaenidae Riodinidae Libytheidae

The superfamily Papilionoidea contains all the butterflies except for the skippers, which are classified in superfamily Hesperioidea.

Some authors treat this grouping as a series (Papilioniformes) within a single superfamily that also includes the skippers. However, all are agreed that, although all the butterflies constitute a single monophyletic clade, a distinction needs to be made between the skippers and the rest of the butterflies. Compared with the skippers, in the families that are here counted within Papilionoidea:

• the body is smaller and less moth-like
• the wings are larger
• the antennae are straight and clubbed (rather than hooked as in the skippers)
• the caterpillars do not spin cocoons to pupate in
• the pupae are angular rather than rounded.

The families of Papilionoidea are:

• Swallowtails and Birdwings, Papilionidae
• Whites or Yellow-Whites, Pieridae
• Blues and Coppers or Gossamer-Winged Butterflies, Lycaenidae
• Metalmark butterflies, Riodinidae
• Snout butterflies, Libytheidae
• Brush-footed butterflies, Nymphalidae