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Nymphalidae

Libytheinae

Niklas Wahlberg


The subfamily Libytheinae has long been considered to be the most basal clade in the family Nymphalidae and indeed have sometimes been considered a family of their own. The 13 species in 2 genera have a very interesting distribution. They are found throughout the world, though usually there is only one species in any one region. The phylogenetic relationships of the species in this subfamily have not been studied in detail to date.

Libythea phylogeny

Checklist of species in Libytheinae

Key publications for Libytheinae systematics:

  1. Kawahara, A. Y. 2003. Rediscovery of Libythea collenettei Poulton & Riley (Nymphalidae: Libytheinae) in the Marquesas, and a description of the male. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 57: 81-85.
  2. Parsons, M. J. 1999. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea: Their Systematics and Biology. Academic Press, London.
  3. Shields, O. 1984. A revised, annotated checklist of world Libytheidae. Journal for Research on the Lepidoptera 22: 264-266.
  4. Shields, O. 1985. Zoogeography of the Libytheidae (Snouts and Breaks[sic!]). Tokurana 9: 1-58.