My Science School

The butterfly super family known as Papilionoidea consists of five families. They are named Papilionoidea, pieridae, Lycaenidae, Riodinidae, and Nymphalidae. In other words, all the butterflies except skippers come under this super family.

      The Papilionoidea family members are collectively known as swallowtails. Butterflies in the Pieridae family are whites, orange tips, brimstones and sulphurs. The majority of them are either red or brown or blue in colour.

     The third family, Lycaenidae, is the largest family of all with some 6000 or more species. They are mostly found in tropical areas, but they can be seen in other parts of the world too.

     The fourth sub family Nymphalidae is also very large, like the third subfamily with more than 6000 species.