The Nymphalinae are a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

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 ...

(

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Nymphalidae). Sometimes, the subfamilies

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 ...

, and

Biblidinae Biblidinae is a subfamily of Nymphalidae, 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, ...

are included here as subordinate

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

(s), while the tribe

Melitaeini Melitaeini are a group of brush-footed butterflies. Usually classified as a tribe of the Nymphalinae, they are sometimes raised to subfamily status as Melitaeinae. Common names include the highly ambiguous fritillaries (also used for some Helic ...

is occasionally regarded as a distinct subfamily. Their phylogenetics can be traced back to the

Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution The Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution (abbreviated KTR), also known as the Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution (ATR) by authors who consider it to have lasted into the Palaeogene, describes the intense floral diversification of flowering plants (ang ...

after the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction, followed by repeated dispersals into the rest of the Old World and the New World during various periods beginning in the

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

Systematics

The traditionally recognized tribes of Nymphalinae are here listed in the presumed

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

sequence:See references in Savela (2010) *

Coeini Coeini is a tribe of brush-footed butterflies.Tribe Coeini< ...

(six or seven genera) *

Nymphalini Nymphalini is a tribe (biology), tribe of nymphalid Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies. Common names include Admiral (disambiguation)#Other uses, admirals, anglewings, Polygonia, commas, and Aglais, tortoiseshells, but none of these is specifi ...

– anglewings, tortoiseshells and relatives (about 15 genera, two are fossil) *

Kallimini Kallimini is a tribe of brush-footed butterflies. List of genera * '' Catacroptera'' Karsch, 1894 – pirates * '' Doleschallia'' C. & R. Felder, 1860 * ''Hypolimnas ''Hypolimnas'' is a genus of tropical brush-footed butterflies commonly ...

(about five genera) *

Victorinini Victorinini is a tribe (biology), tribe of Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies. The four butterfly genera contained in this tribe are ''Anartia'', ''Metamorpha'', ''Napeocles'', and ''Siproeta''. Those genera were previously included in the ...

(four genera, formerly in Kallimini) *

Junoniini Junoniini is a tribe of nymphalid ( brush-footed) butterflies.

(about five genera) *

– fritillaries (about 25 genera) * Vanessulini (one genus, ''

Vanessula ''Vanessula'' is a monotypic butterfly genus in the family Nymphalidae. It contains only one species, ''Vanessula milca'', the black and orange or lady's maid. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, G ...

'' Dewitz, 1887 , per Grishin in Zhang, Cong, Shen, Opler & Grishin, 202, elsewhere as ''incertae sedis'') Genera ''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

'' are: * ''

Rhinopalpa ''Rhinopalpa polynice'', the wizard, is a nymphalid butterfly found in India and South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. ...

'' – the wizard * ''

Kallimoides ''Kallimoides'' is a monotypic genus of butterflies in the family Nymphalidae. It contains only one species, ''Kallimoides rumia'', the African leaf butterfly. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Bioko, Came ...

'' Shirôzu & Nakanishi, 1984 – African leaf butterfly In addition to these, '' Crenidomimas'' is sometimes placed here, but may belong in the

, genus ''

Euryphura ''Euryphura'' is a butterfly genus in the subfamily Limenitidinae. The species of this genus are found in the Afrotropical realm. Species Listed alphabetically within species groups:Late Eocene The Priabonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Eocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans ...

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 preserve ...

genus ''

Lithodryas ''Lithodryas'' is a prehistoric genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It was introduced as a replacement for Samuel Hubbard Scudder's genus ''Lithopsyche'', which is invalid as a homonym, as another fossil lepidopteran genus had been de ...

'' might belong here, but it is generally assigned to the

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), 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 ...

References

External links

Butterflies and Moths of North America

Butterflies of America
Taxa named by William Swainson Butterfly subfamilies - {{Nymphalinae-stub

Systematics

References

Further reading

External links