Papilionoidea Totally Explained

Everything about Papilionoidea totally explained

The superfamily Papilionoidea (from the word "papilion", meaning "butterfly") contains all the butterflies except for the skippers, which are classified in superfamily Hesperioidea, and the moth-like Hedyloidea.
A proposed phylogenetic position of the Papilionoidea is as follows:
}} Some authors treat this group as a series Papilioniformes within a single superfamily that also includes the skippers. However not all authors agree that all the butterflies constitute a single clade. The skippers are significantly different from the other butterflies. 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 antennae are straight and clubbed (rather than hooked as in the skippers).
the caterpillars don't spin cocoons to pupate in.
the pupae are angular rather than rounded.

Families of Papilionoidea

The traditional families of Papilionoidea are:

Swallowtails and Birdwings, Papilionidae

Whites or Yellow-Whites, Pieridae

Blues and Coppers or Gossamer-Winged Butterflies, Lycaenidae

Metalmark butterflies, Riodinidae

Brush-footed butterflies, Nymphalidae which now contain the following :

the Browns (formerly the family Satyridae).
the Danaids (formerly the family Danaidae).
the Heliconids (formerly the family Heliconidae).
the Amathusiids (formerly the family Amathusiidae).
the Snout butterflies (formerly the family Libytheidae).
the Limenitidids (formerly the family Limenitididae)
other subfamilies traditionally part of family Nymphalidae.

Further Information

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