Brush-Footed (Nymphalidae)

The Nymphalidae is the largest of the butterfly families comprising over 6000 species distributed throughout the world. The monarchs, admirals, and emperors are some of the significant butterflies of this family.

Types of Brush-Footed Butterfly

Butterflies in This Family

Painted Lady	Edith’s Checkerspot	Milbert’s Tortoiseshell
Bay Checkerspot	Blue Morpho	Blue Nawab
Kamehameha	Orange Oakleaf	Viceroy Butterfly
Aphrodite Fritillary	Regal Fritillary	Gulf Fritillary
Chinese Bush-Brown	Glasswing Butterfly	American Painted Lady
Polyphemus White Morpho	Meadow Fritillary	Great Spangled Fritillary
Variegated Fritillary	Common Tiger	Doris Longwing
Blue Moon Butterfly	Soldier Butterfly	Small Tortoiseshell
Mourning Cloak Butterfly	Blue Pansy	Common Map Butterfly
Hackberry Emperor Butterfly	Mountain Ringlet Butterfly	Eastern Comma Butterfly
Common Buckeye Butterfly	Malachite	Pearl Crescent
Comma Butterfly	Diana Fritillary	Baltimore Checkerspot
Red Spotted Purple	Purple Emperor	Silvery Checkerspot
Zebra Butterfly	Quino Checkerspot	Paper Kite Butterfly
White Peacock Butterfly	Leopard Butterfly	Queen Butterfly
Question Mark Butterfly	Peacock Butterfly	Postman Butterfly

Description and Identification

Caterpillar

They have a velvety, black and speckled body filled with hairy of spiky projections, alongside small, white dots.

Pupae

The pupa or chrysalids possess shiny spots, often seen hanging with their head downwards.

Adult

Sexual Dimorphism: Present

Color and Appearance: The common colorations of the butterflies of this family include orange, brown, black and yellow, whereas, blue and purple colored butterflies also exist, though rarely. The shapes of the wings differ, varying from one species to the other. Some may have irregular margins like commas and angle wings, whereas certain species even have tail-like projections on their wings.

Average Wingspan: 4 to 8 cm

Flight Pattern: Fast an erratic

Eggs

About A hundred eggs are laid in a cluster, and they are green in color.

Quick Facts
Other names	Four-footed butterflies, brush-footed butterflies
Distribution	Throughout the continents of America, Europe, Africa, and Asia
Habitat	Park, gardens, brush areas, woodlands, stream beds, dense undergrowth,
Lifespan of adults	14 days on an average (the numbers may differ from one species to the other)
Host plants	Milkweed, white vine, blazing star, thistles, cosmos, ironweed, cosmos, aster, joe-pye, olona, and mamaki
Adult diet	Flower nectar

Did You Know

The brush-like hairs on their forelegs give them the name brush-footed butterflies.
Rafinesque had first introduced the name Nymphalidae to the order Lepidoptera.