Butterfly
For other uses, see Butterfly (disambiguation). A group of insects in the order Lepidoptera Butterflies Temporal range: Palaeocene-Present, 56–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N Papilio machaon Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Euarthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Rhopalocera Subgroups Superfamily Hedyloidea: Hedylidae Superfamily Papilionoidea: Hesperiidae Lycaenidae Nymphalidae Papilionidae Pieridae Riodinidae Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the large superfamily Papilionoidea, which contains at least one former group, the skippers (formerly the superfamily "Hesperioidea") and the most recent analyses suggest it also contains the moth-butter