Papilioninae is a subfamily of the

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larg ...

. Papilioninae are found worldwide, but most species are distributed in the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referr ...

. There are roughly 480

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, of which 27 occur in North America.

Tribes

This subfamily consists of the following tribes: *

Leptocircini Leptocircini is a tribe of swallowtail butterflies that includes the genera ''Eurytides'' (kite swallowtails), '' Graphium'' (swordtails), and '' Lamproptera'' (dragontails). Taxonomy The tribe consists of roughly 140 species in nine genera wor ...

* Papilionini *

Troidini Troidini is a tribe of swallowtail butterflies that consists of some 135 species in 12 genera. Members of this tribe are superlatively large among butterflies (in terms of both wingspan and surface area) and are often strikingly coloured. Gener ...

References

* ''The Butterflies of North America'', James A. Scott, , 1986

External links

* * Papilionidae Butterfly subfamilies {{Papilionidae-stub