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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 reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting.
In butterflies, the exposed pupa is often referred to as a chrysalis, derived from the Greek term "chrysalis": χρυσός (chrysós) for gold, referring to the golden colour of some pupae. [68] The caterpillars of many butterflies attach themselves by a button of silk to the underside of a branch, stone, or other projecting surface.
The insect order Lepidoptera consists of moths and butterflies (43 superfamilies). [1] Most moths are night-flying, while the butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea ) are the mainly day-flying. Within Lepidoptera as a whole, the groups listed below before Glossata contain a few basal families accounting for less than 200 species; the bulk of ...
The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is a larger species of butterfly and can have up to a 5.5 inch wingspread. This beautiful butterfly species can be seen from springtime until the fall and produces ...
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 ...
While the butterflies form a monophyletic group, the moths, which comprise the rest of the Lepidoptera, do not. Many attempts have been made to group the superfamilies of the Lepidoptera into natural groups, most of which fail because one of the two groups is not monophyletic: Microlepidoptera and Macrolepidoptera, Heterocera and Rhopalocera, Jugatae and Frenatae, Monotrysia and Ditrysia.
Unlike their relatives with larger wings and darker colors, lighter, smaller butterflies have trouble regulating body temperatures when the air temperature increases, a new study found.
Their wingspans range from 0.8 to 4.0 inches (2-10.2 cm). There are about 1,000 species worldwide with about 61 species in North America. Most whites and sulphurs are white, yellow, and orange with some black, and some may be various shades of gray green. Their flight is mostly slow and fluttering, but some of the larger species have quicker ...