Nymphalidae

Pohl, Greg, Anweiler, Gary, Schmidt, Christian & Kondla, Norbert, 2010, An annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Alberta, Canada, ZooKeys 38 (38), pp. 1-549 : 180

52. Nymphalidae – brush-footed butterflies

The brush-footed butterfly family consists of small to large butterflies with wide variation in appearance and wing structure. The family is primarily defined by the hairy and reduced forelegs, which are not functional for walking. Th e eyes are not indented next to the antennae, and the face is as wide as it is tall between the eyes. Many species are quite similar externally, particularly the fritillaries and the checkerspots; the latter are particularly variable within species, making species and subspecies limits difficult to determine. Larvae feed on a variety of plants; some feed gregariously on webs.

The subfamilies Satyrinae and Danainae have often been treated as distinct families but are considered here to be nymphalid subfamilies, sensu Ackery et al. 1999. Approximately 6000 species of Nymphalidae are known worldwide. Two hundred and sixteen species are known from North America; 74 species are reported from AB.