Papilionoidea
Papilionoidea
Superfamily of butterflies
The superfamily Papilionoidea (from the genus Papilio, meaning "butterfly") contains all the butterflies except for the moth-like Hedyloidea.
The members of the Papilionoidea may be distinguished by the following combination of characters:
- The body is smaller and less moth-like.
- The wings are larger.
- The antennae are straight and clubbed or hooked as in the skippers.
- The caterpillars do not spin cocoons in which to pupate.
- The pupae are angular rather than rounded.
Recent phylogenetic analyses suggest the traditionally circumscribed Papilionoidea are a paraphyletic group, and that skippers (family Hesperiidae) and Neotropical moth-like butterflies (family Hedylidae) are true butterflies that should be included within the Papilionoidea superfamily to reflect cladistic relationships.[1][2]