Introduction to Nymphalidae
Niklas Wahlberg
The butterfly family Nymphalidae contains about 6000 species that have been
placed into about 531 genera.
Currently these genera are placed into 12 subfamilies and 40 tribes. The
relationships of major lineages in Nymphalidae have been unclear for a long
period, but since 2000 there have been many studies that are
resolving these issues based on both molecular and morphological data. These studies are referred to in the relevant
places throughout these pages. The current state of knowledge of the phylogenetic
relationships of nymphalid butterflies can be found on the
Tree of Life web project,
which the NSG has helped to build up. The
Tree of Life web project pages
will be linked to throughout the NSG pages for phylogenetic hypotheses of the
various clades in Nymphalidae.
The subfamilies of Nymphalidae
