Nymphalidae

Nymphalidae

Brush footed butterflies, Fritillaries, Admirals, Maps, Emperors, Rajahs, Vanessas, etc

The family Nymphalidae contains nearly one-third of the known butterflies in the world. It is distributed all over the world. These are brilliantly coloured butterflies with a powerful flight. Wings are sometimes sharply angled and indented. Forelegs are degenerate and useless for walking in both sexes. In male, they have 2 tarsal joints and are brush like ( hence the common name the Brush footed butterflies) while in female, they have 4 joints with short setae, giving them a very different appearance from those of the male, so that the sexes may easily be distinguished by these legs. Some of the larger groups are very striking. The Fritillaries ( Argynnini) are orange or reddish brown with darker markings and silver spotted undersides. The Rajahs ( Charaxes) are one of the most powerful fliers among the butterflies. The admirals ( Limenitini) derive their names from the banded appearance of their wings, resembling the stripes on naval uniforms. The map butterflies ( cyrestis) are remarkable with strange map like wing markings and an unusual wing shape. The Vanessas ( Vanessidi) are cosmopolitan in distribution.

Almost all male nymphalids and some female are fond of basking in the sun. many of these butterflies are attracted to dung, rotting fruit, toddy or sap and rarely flowers. Several members mimic the Danaidae.

Larvae are generally green or brown with branched spines ( Vanessas, Fritillaries, Pansies) or tubercles ( Sailers) or smooth skinned with head and / or tail processes only ( Rajahs). They feed on plants of several families, including Acanthaceae, Asteraceae, Euphoribiaceae, Falcourtiaceae, Moraceae, Plantaginaceae, Sapindacese, Scrophulariaceae, Uriticaceae, Verbenaceae, Violaceae, etc.
Pupae are mostly elongate, angular with gold or silver spots and a spiked appearance. They are suspended by the tail hooks only.