Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera)
Among the insect order Lepidoptera, butterflies comprise about 9% of the order worldwide, totaling about 20,400 described species (moths represent the other 91% of all lepidopterans). There are perhaps another 3,500 butterfly species awaiting discovery and naming, mostly from tropical regions of the world, and especially among the smaller species such as skippers (family Hesperiidae) and blues (family Lycaenidae). The Nymphalidae are the largest butterfly family, with about 7,080 known species worldwide; second largest is Lycaenidae with 5,955 known species. Although the name Rhopalocera is not used in modern classification of Lepidoptera, the name can be used to refer to all the butterflies (Heterocera is used as the name for all moths). While most moths are nocturnal (with many exceptions), most all butterflies are diurnal, although some are known to be crepuscular (especially a few tropical skippers)
Out of the total of 125 families of Lepidoptera, there are seven families of...
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