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I don't want to go into too much depth here but I think a little insight maybe useful and interesting. First we'll look at total numbers of species of Butterflies and their general worldwide distribution.
Two animals are defined as different species if they cannot breed to produce viable fertile offspring.
Of the 1,500,000 insects there are about 200,000 species of Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) worldwide. Approximately 15,000 of these species are butterflies and the rest are moths. You can see from the map below that the tropical belt holds the largest diversity of butterfly species, with South America having the richest fauna.
Species by region.
As mentioned on the contents page the European part of the green region above has about 440 species.
So there are roughly 15,000 species of butterfly in the world, how are these categorized? Well first we split into quite large Families (e.g. Nymphalidae), then into smaller Subfamilies (e.g. Satyrinae), then into Genera (e.g. Erebia) and finally into species. A species latin name has two parts, the first is its genus and the second gives it a unique specific identification. For example for the Red admiral.;
| Subsection (butterfly) | Superfamily (not skipper) | Family | Subfamily | Genus | Species |
| Rhopalocera | Papilionoidea | Nymphalidae | Nymphalinae | Vanessa | atalanta |
Quite an advanced system, we've only looked at the last stages, having already reached butterflies. The whole list would include;
| Phylum | Class | Order | Suborder | Section | Subsection |
| Arthropoda | Insecta | Lepidoptera | Ditrysia | Macrolepidoptera | Rhopalocera |
|
Group |
Genera |
Species |
||||
|
World |
Europe |
US |
World |
Europe |
US |
|
|
Phylum Arthropoda (Joint-Legged Animals) |
- |
- |
- |
2,000,000 |
- |
130,000 |
|
Class Insecta (Insects) |
- |
- |
- |
1,500,000 |
- |
100,000 |
|
Order Lepidoptera (Moths and Butterflies) |
10,000 |
- |
1,600 |
200,000 |
- |
15,000 |
|
Suborder Zeugloptera (Mandibulate Moths) |
7 |
- |
1 |
200 |
- |
3 |
|
Suborder Aglossata (Araucaria-Seed Moths) |
1 |
- |
0 |
2 |
- |
0 |
|
Suborder Heterobathmiina (Southern-Beech Moths) |
1 |
- |
0 |
5 |
- |
0 |
|
Suborder Dacnonypha (Primitive Leaf Miners) |
9 |
- |
5 |
200 |
- |
20 |
|
Suborder Neopseustina (Neopseustid Moths) |
4 |
- |
0 |
9 |
- |
0 |
|
Suborder Exoporia (Ghost Moths, Swifts) |
30 |
- |
2 |
500 |
- |
25 |
|
Suborder Monotrysia (Leaf Miners, Yucca Moths) |
150 |
- |
20 |
3,000 |
- |
250 |
|
Suborder Ditrysia (Higher Moths and Butterflies) |
9,500 |
- |
1,500 |
196,000 |
- |
14,500 |
|
Section Macrolepidoptera |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
Subsection Rhopalocera (Butterflies) |
1,500 |
123 |
208 |
14,750 |
440 |
679 |
|
Superfamily Papilionoidea (Non Skippers) |
950 |
110 |
116 |
11,100 |
395 |
416 |
|
Family Papillonidae (Swallowtails) |
24 |
5 |
5 |
534 |
12 |
30 |
|
Subfamily Parnassiinae (Parnassians) |
8 |
3 |
1 |
50 |
7 |
3 |
|
Subfamily Papilioninae (Swallowtails) |
15 |
2 |
4 |
483 |
5 |
27 |
|
Subfamily Baroniinae |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Family Pieridae (Whites and Sulfurs) |
59 |
13 |
14 |
1,100 |
50 |
58 |
|
Subfamily Pseudopontiinae |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Subfamily Dismorphiinae (Mimic Sulfurs) |
4 |
0 |
1 |
100 |
0 |
1 |
|
Subfamily Coliadinae (Sulfurs) |
11 |
3 |
6 |
300 |
16 |
36 |
|
Subfamily Pierinae (Whites) |
43 |
10 |
7 |
700 |
34 |
21 |
|
Family Nymphalidae (Brush-Footed Butterflies) |
450 |
47 |
52 |
4,500 |
211 |
185 |
|
Subfamily Danainae (Milkweed Butterflies) |
8 |
1 |
2 |
157 |
2 |
4 |
|
Subfamily Ithomiinae (Clear-Wing Butterflies) |
47 |
0 |
0 |
400 |
0 |
0 |
|
Subfamily Satyrinae (Satyrs) |
200 |
24 |
12 |
2,000 |
138 |
43 |
|
Subfamily Morphinae (Morphos, Brassolids) |
10 |
0 |
0 |
200 |
0 |
0 |
|
Subfamily Charaxinae (Goatweed Butterflies) |
15 |
1 |
1 |
400 |
1 |
4 |
|
Subfamily Apaturinae (Emperors) |
5 |
2 |
2 |
50 |
4 |
5 |
|
Subfamily Nymphalinae (Spiny Brush-Footed Butterflies) |
150 |
19 |
35 |
1,100 |
66 |
129 |
|
Subfamily Acracinae |
5 |
0 |
0 |
150 |
0 |
0 |
|
Subfamily Calinaginae |
1 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
|
Family Libytheidae (Snout Butterflies) |
2 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
|
Family Lyeacnidae (Little Butterflies) |
425 |
44 |
44 |
4,700 |
121 |
142 |
|
Subfamily Styginae |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Subfamily Riodininae (Metalmarks) |
100 |
1 |
6 |
1,500 |
1 |
20 |
|
Subfamily Curetinae |
1 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
|
Subfamily Lycaeninae (Hairstreaks, Coppers, and Blues) |
325 |
43 |
38 |
3,200 |
120 |
122 |
|
Superfamily Hesperioidea (Skippers) |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
Family Hesperiidae |
530 |
13 |
92 |
3,650 |
45 |
263 |
|
Subfamily Megathyminae (Giant Skippers) |
5 |
0 |
3 |
20 |
0 |
13 |
|
Subfamily Hesperiinae (Grass Skippers) |
315 |
8 |
47 |
2,150 |
14 |
137 |
|
Subfamily Trapezitinae |
16 |
0 |
0 |
65 |
0 |
0 |
|
Subfamily Pyrginae (Herb, Shrub, and Tree Skippers) |
167 |
5 |
41 |
1,150 |
31 |
112 |
|
Subfamily Coeliadinae |
7 |
0 |
0 |
90 |
0 |
0 |
|
Subfamily Pyrrhopyginae (Mimic Skippers) |
20 |
0 |
1 |
170 |
0 |
1 |
Figures collated from Tolman (Butterflies of Europe) and Scott (Butterflies of North America) and are fairly approximate. Also groupings in this list are by no means fixed, or universally accepted!
© All pictures in these pages copyright to Simon Coombes. Permission must be sought and obtained for any use. |