Nymphalinae

Nymphalinae
Kallima paralekta - MHNT
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Nymphalinae
Swainson, 1827
Diversity
6 tribes (but see text)

The Nymphalinae are a subfamily of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). Sometimes, the subfamilies Limenitidinae, and Biblidinae are included here as subordinate tribe(s), while the tribe Melitaeini is occasionally regarded as a distinct subfamily. Their phylogenetics can be traced back to the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution 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.

Systematics

The traditionally recognized tribes of Nymphalinae are here listed in the presumed phylogenetic sequence:[1]

  • Coeini (six or seven genera)
  • Nymphalini – anglewings, tortoiseshells and relatives (about 15 genera, two are fossil)
  • Kallimini (about five genera)
  • Victorinini (four genera, formerly in Kallimini)
  • Junoniini (about five genera)
  • Melitaeini – fritillaries (about 25 genera)
  • Vanessulini (one genus, Vanessula Dewitz, 1887 , per Grishin in Zhang, Cong, Shen, Opler & Grishin, 202, elsewhere as incertae sedis)

Genera incertae sedis are:


In addition to these, Crenidomimas is sometimes placed here, but may belong in the Limenitidinae, genus Euryphura.

The Late Eocene fossil genus Lithodryas might belong here, but it is generally assigned to the Lycaenidae.

References

  1. ^ See references in Savela (2010)

Further reading

  • Savela, Markku (2010): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Nymphalinae. Version of 2010-JUN-30. Retrieved 2011-FEB-08.
  • Glassberg, Jeffrey Butterflies through Binoculars, The West (2001)
  • Pelham, Jonathan Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada (2008)
  • Su, C., Shi, Q., Sun, X. et al. Dated phylogeny and dispersal history of the butterfly subfamily Nymphalinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Sci Rep 7, 8799 (2017)


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