The

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

Papilionoidea (from the genus ''

Papilio ''Papilio'' is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, as well as the only representative of the tribe Papilionini. The word ''papilio'' is Latin for butterfly. It includes the common yellow swallowtail (''Papilio machaon''), ...

'', meaning "butterfly") contains all the

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

except for the moth-like

Hedyloidea Hedylidae, the "American moth-butterflies", is a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera, representing the superfamily Hedyloidea. They have traditionally been viewed as an extant sister group of the butterfly superfamily Papilionoidea. In 198 ...

. The members of the Papilionoidea may be distinguished by the following combination of characters: *The body is smaller and less moth-like. *The wings are larger. *The

antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...

e are straight and clubbed or hooked as in the skippers. *The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s do not spin cocoons in which to

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

te. *The pupae are angular rather than rounded. Recent

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analyses suggest the traditionally circumscribed Papilionoidea are a

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

group, and that skippers (family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

) and Neotropical moth-like butterflies (family

Hedylidae Hedylidae, the "American moth-butterflies", is a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera, representing the superfamily Hedyloidea. They have traditionally been viewed as an extant sister group of the butterfly superfamily Papilionoidea. In 198 ...

) are true butterflies that should be included within the Papilionoidea superfamily to reflect

cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

relationships.

Families of Papilionoidea

The six well-supported families of Papilionoidea are: *

(skippers) * Swallowtails and

birdwing Birdwings are butterflies in the swallowtail family, that belong to the genera ''Trogonoptera'', ''Troides'', and ''Ornithoptera''. Most recent authorities recognise 36 species, however, this is debated, and some authorities include additional ...

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 larges ...

*Whites or yellow-whites,

Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern regions of North America and Eurasia.DeVries P. J. in Levi ...

*Blues and coppers or gossamer-winged butterflies,

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfl ...

*Metalmark butterflies,

Riodinidae Riodinidae is the family of metalmark butterflies. The common name "metalmarks" refers to the small, metallic-looking spots commonly found on their wings. The 1532 species are placed in 146 genera. Although mostly Neotropical in distribution, t ...

Brush-footed butterflies The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a redu ...

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

which contain the following 13 subfamilies: ** The snout butterflies or

Libytheinae The Libytheinae are a nymphalid subfamily known as snout butterflies, containing two valid genera and about ten species: six in '' Libythea'' and four in ''Libytheana''. The common name refers to the thick labial palps (pedipalps) that look like ...

(formerly the family Libytheidae) ** The danaids or

Danainae Danainae is a subfamily of the family Nymphalidae, the brush-footed butterflies. It includes the Daniadae, or milkweed butterflies, who lay their eggs on various milkweeds on which their larvae (caterpillars) feed, as well as the clearwing butt ...

(formerly the family Danaidae) ** The Tellervinae ** The glasswings or

Ithomiinae Ithomiini is a butterfly tribe in the nymphalid subfamily Danainae. It is sometimes referred to as the tribe of clearwing butterflies or glasswing butterflies. Some authors consider the group to be a subfamily (Ithomiinae). These butterflies are ...

** The Calinaginae ** The morphos and owls or

Morphinae The Morphinae are a subfamily of Nymphalidae butterflies that includes the morphos, the owl butterflies (''Caligo''), and related lineages. It is either considered a sister group of the Satyrinae, or disassembled and included therein. System ...

(including the owls as tribe Brassolini) ** The browns or

Satyrinae The Satyrinae, the satyrines or satyrids, commonly known as the browns, are a subfamily of the Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies). They were formerly considered a distinct family, Satyridae. This group contains nearly half of the known divers ...

(formerly the family Satyridae) ** The

Charaxinae __NOTOC__ The Charaxinae, the leafwings, are a nymphalid subfamily of butterflies that includes about 400 species, inhabiting mainly the tropics, although some species extend into temperate regions in North America, Europe, China, and southern A ...

(preponas and leaf butterflies) ** The

Biblidinae Biblidinae is a subfamily of nymphalid butterflies that includes the tropical brushfoots. This subfamily was sometimes merged within the Limenitidinae, but they are now recognized as quite distinct lineages. In older literature, this subfami ...

** The

Apaturinae The Apaturinae are a subfamily of butterflies that includes many species commonly called emperors. Description Strikingly-coloured, with cryptic underwing. A distinguishing character of the subfamily is the green proboscis. Agathina emperor ( ...

** The nymphs or

Nymphalinae The Nymphalinae are a subfamily of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). Sometimes, the subfamilies Limenitidinae, and Biblidinae are included here as subordinate tribe(s), while the tribe Melitaeini is occasionally regarded as a distinc ...

** The

Limenitidinae The Limenitidinae are a subfamily of butterflies that includes the admirals and relatives. The common names of many species and genera reference military ranks or – namely the Adoliadini – titles of nobility (e.g., count, duke, earl, an ...

(especially the adelphas) ** The tropical longwings or

Heliconiinae The Heliconiinae, commonly called heliconians or longwings, are a subfamily of the brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They can be divided into 45–50 genera and were sometimes treated as a separate family Heliconiidae within the P ...

Of the subfamilies of Nymphalidae, only the Morphinae and Satyrinae are possibly paraphyletic, but these two subfamilies form a strongly supported clade with the Charaxinae as sister group.Gerardo Lamas (2008) Systematics of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea and Papilionoidea) in the world: current state and future perspectives (in Spanish). In: Jorge Llorente-Bousquets and Analía Lanteri (eds.) ''Contribuiciones taxonómicas en ordens de insectos hiperdiversos''. Mexico City: UNAM. Pp. 57-70. The

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

genus ''

Lithopsyche ''Lithopsyche'' is a fossil butterfly known from Oligocene-aged strata of the Isle of Wight, England. The sole specimen is too incomplete to allow a certain assignment of a family, but it was placed on its description as a geometrid and more re ...

'' is apparently a Papilionoidea ''

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'', which has long been mistaken for a

geometer moth The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek ''geo'' γεω (derivative form of or "the earth"), and ''metr ...

of the

Boarmiini The Boarmiini (also often called ''Cleorini'') are a large tribe of geometer moths in the Ennominae subfamily. Description and systematics This family is sometimes massively expanded, with the closely related Bistonini, Bupalini, Erannini, Gno ...

. It is variously placed in the Lycaenidae or Riodinidae. A similar fossil, '' Lithodryas'', is more firmly assigned to the Lycaenidae, but might belong to the Nymphalidae. '' Riodinella'', yet another prehistoric genus, also seems to belong here, but its relationships are quite obscure, indeed. However, these fossils – all found in

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

deposits dating roughly between 50 and 25 million years ago – suggest the radiation of the Papilionoidea into the present-day families took place during that epoch. ''

Prodryas ''Prodryas persephone'' is an extinct species of brush-footed butterfly, known from a single specimen from the Chadronian-aged Florissant Shale Lagerstatte of Late Eocene Colorado. ''P. persephone'' is the first fossil butterfly to be found in ...

'', from the end of the Eocene, can be quite robustly assigned to the Nymphalidae, and is quite likely a member of the

Nymphalini Nymphalini is a tribe of nymphalid brush-footed butterflies. Common names include admirals, anglewings, commas, and tortoiseshells, but none of these is specific to one particular genus. The name anglewing butterflies is an English translation ...

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

fossils of Papilionoidea are usually assignable to an extant family without problems. Taken together, these fossils place the origin of the Papilionoidea in the latest

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

or early

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

, while the extant families emerged around the early Eocene onwards.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q756153 Butterflies Lepidoptera superfamilies Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille Obtectomera pl:Motyle dzienne