The superfamily Papilionoidea contains all the butterflies except for the moth-like Hedyloidea.
Riodinidae is the family of metalmark butterflies. The common name "metalmarks" refers to the small metallic-looking spots commonly found on their wings. There are 1532 species and 146 genera of metalmark butterflies in the world. Although mostly neotropical in distribution, the family is represented both in the Nearctic and the Palearctic.
The Nymphalinae are a subfamily of brush-footed butterflies. Sometimes, the subfamilies Limenitidinae, and Biblidinae are included here as subordinate tribe(s), while the tribe Melitaeini is occasionally regarded as a distinct subfamily.
The chalkhill blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.
The short-tailed blue or tailed Cupid is a butterfly that forms part of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from Central Europe to Japan.
Lycaeninae, the coppers, are a subfamily of the gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae).
Miletinae is a subfamily of the family Lycaenidae of butterflies, commonly called harvesters and woolly legs, and virtually unique among butterflies in having predatory larvae. Miletinae are entirely aphytophagous. The ecology of the Miletinae is little understood, but adults and larvae live in association with ants, and most known species feed on Hemiptera, though some, like Liphyra, feed on the ants themselves. The butterflies, ants, and hemipterans, in some cases, seem to have complex symbiotic relationships benefiting all.
Polyommatinae, the blues, are a subfamily of gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae). It was long used to assign taxa of unclear relationships, and its contents are in need of revision. Several genera might not even belong here.
Butterfly evolution is the origin and diversification of butterflies through geologic time and over a large portion of the Earth's surface. The earliest known butterfly fossils are from the mid Eocene epoch, between 40-50 million years ago. Their development is closely linked to the evolution of flowering plants, since both adult butterflies and caterpillars feed on flowering plants. Of the 220,000 species of Lepidoptera, about 45,000 species are butterflies, which probably evolved from moths. Butterflies are found throughout the world, except in Antarctica, and are especially numerous in the tropics; they fall into eight different families.
The Aphnaeini are a tribe of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae.
Esakiozephyrus icana, the dull green hairstreak, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues.
George Thomas Bethune-Baker was an English entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera, especially those in the family Lycaenidae of butterflies.
Zizeeria knysna, the dark grass blue or African grass blue, is a species of blue butterfly (Lycaenidae) found in Africa, on Cyprus and the Iberian Peninsula.
Pamela is a monotypic butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae containing the species Pamela dudgeonii, the Lister's hairstreak. It is a small butterfly found in India.
Satyrium edwardsii, the Edwards' hairstreak, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the eastern parts of the United States and in the southern parts of the Canadian provinces from Saskatchewan to Quebec.
Anthene amarah, the black-striped hairtail, leaden hairtail or leaden ciliate blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in tropical Africa and Arabia. The habitat consists of savanna and occasionally open areas in the forest zone.
Callophrys sheridanii, the Sheridan's hairstreak and Sheridan's green hairstreak, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America along the south coast of British Columbia and parts of Nevada, Arizona, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, and New Mexico. In 2009, this species was adopted as the U.S. state butterfly for Wyoming.
Hamilton Herbert Charles James Druce was an English entomologist who specialised in Lycaenidae and to a lesser extent Hesperiidae. He is not to be confused with his father, the English entomologist Herbert Druce (1846–1913) who also worked on Lepidoptera.
