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Lepidoptera (/ ˌ l ɛ p ɪ ˈ d ɒ p t ər ə / LEP-ih-DOP-tər-ə) or lepidopterans is an order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths.About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organisms, [1] [2] making it the second largest insect order (behind Coleoptera) with 126 families [3] and 46 superfamilies ...
Possibly the original butter-fly. [6] A male brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) in flight.The Oxford English Dictionary derives the word straightforwardly from Old English butorflēoge, butter-fly; similar names in Old Dutch and Old High German show that the name is ancient, but modern Dutch and German use different words (vlinder and Schmetterling) and the common name often varies substantially ...
The scales on butterfly wings are pigmented with melanins that can produce the colours black and brown. The white colour in the butterfly family Pieridae is a derivative of uric acid, an excretory product. [13] [40]: 84 Bright blues, greens, reds, and iridescence are usually created not by pigments but through the microstructure of the scales.
This is a list of species of butterfly with the common name fritillary.The term fritillary refers to the chequered markings on the wings, usually black on orange, and derives from the Latin fritillus, meaning "dice-box" (or, according to some sources, a "chequerboard"); the fritillary flower, with its chequered markings, has the same derivation. [1]
The name "butterfly" is believed to have originated from a member of this family, the brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni, which was called the "butter-coloured fly" by early British naturalists. [ 2 ] The sexes usually differ, often in the pattern or number of the black markings.
Orsotriaena medus is a medium-sized butterfly with wingspan of 45 to 55 mm (1.8 to 2.2 in). The butterfly is dark brown above with a thin marginal pale border. The upper hindwing having a thin submarginal line. There are no eyespots on the upperside of the wings. [9] Below, the butterfly has a white discal band which runs across both wings.
The butterflies form the clade Rhopalocera, which is composed of three superfamilies: Hedyloidea (the moth butterfly family Hedylidae), the Hesperioidea (the skipper family Hesperiidae), and the Papilionoidea (the true butterfly families Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Lycaenidae, and Riodinidae). All of these families are monophyletic.
Papilio ambrax Boisduval, 1832 – Ambrax butterfly; Papilio phestus Guérin-Méneville, 1830; Papilio polytes Linnaeus, 1758 – common Mormon; species group: castor. Papilio castor Westwood, 1842 – common raven; Papilio dravidarum Wood-Mason, 1880 – Malabar raven; Papilio mahadeva Moore, [1879] – Burmese raven; species group: fuscus ...