A NOTE ON NAMES
Most people classify butterflies into the following groups:
The superfamily Papilionoidea are divided into five families.
The family Papilionidae are often called the swallowtails. They include the birdwings and the apollos.
The family Pieridae encompass what we call the whites, orange tips, brimstones, and sulphurs.
The family Lycaenidae include the blues, hairstreaks, and coppers.
The family Riodinidae are known as the metalmarks. Some taxonomists list this as a subfamily.
The family Nymphalidae are referred to as brush-footed butterflies because their forelegs are often reduced to a hairy pad. There are thirteen subfamilies that include these common names: owls, satyrs, longwings, morphos, browns, milkweeds, snouts, fritillaries, tortoiseshells, painted ladies, admirals, buckeyes, checkerspots, and crescents.
The superfamily Hesperioidea include only one family, Hesperiidae. These butterflies are commonly called skippers. They tend to have a quick, erratic flight and a short, stout body. Skippers can resemble moths in the way they hold their wings out and their use of cocoons for pupation.
The superfamily Hedyloidea also include only one family, Hedylidae. These “butterfly-moths” have characteristics of both moths and butterflies.
For the most part, I use common names for species. I do not capitalize general terms such as fritillaries or whites; I do capitalize the common name referring to a specific species, such as a Silver-washed Fritillary or a Large White. Of course, common names bedevil scientists and are ridiculously inaccurate because they change with locale and custom. For that reason, I have included an alphabetical list of every common name used in the text, along with its scientific name. For non-lepidoptera, the scientific name is given in the end notes.
LEPIDOPTERA
Acmon Blue (Pliebejus acmon acmon)
American Painted lady (Vanessa virginiensis)
Apollo (Parnassius apollo)
Australian Big Greasy (Cressida cressida)
Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton)
Black Satyr (Satyrus actaea)
Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
Black-veined White (Aporia crataegi)
Bright Copper (Paralucia surifera)
Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni)
Buckeye (Precis coenia)
Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)
California Sister (Adelpha bredowii)
California White Tip (Anthocharis lanceolata)
Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)
Checkered White (Pieris protodice)
Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
Colorado Hairstreak (Hypaurotis crysalus)
Common Imperial Blue (Jalmenus evagoras)
Common Sulphur (Colias philodice)
Death’s-head Hawk moth (Acherontia atropos)
Diana Fritillary (Speyeria diana)
Dimorphic Bark Wing (Epiphile adrasta)
Dotted Checkerspot (Poladryas minuta)
Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma)
El Segundo Blue (Euphilotes bernardino allyni)
European Map (Araschnia levana)
European Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines)
Field Crescent (Phyciodes pratensis)
Fruit-feeding Charaxes (Charaxes eupale)
Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia)
Goldenrod Stowaway (Cirrhophanus triangulifer)
Grapevine Epimenis (Psychomorpha epimenis)
Gray Cracker (Hamadryas februa)
Grayling (Hipparchia semele)
Great Copper (Lycaena xanthoides)
Great-Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele)
Great Southern White (Ascia monuste)
Green Hairstreak (Callophrys affinis)
Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
Gypsy moth (Lymantra dispar)
Heath Fritillary (Mellicta athalia)
Hornet moth (Sesia bembeciformis)
Large Blue (Maculinea arion)
Large Heath (Coenonympha tullia)
Large White (Pieris brassicae)
Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus)
Long-tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus)
Madrone (Eucheira socialis)
Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis daphne)
Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Moroccan Orange Tip (Anthocharis belia)
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)
Northern Blue (Plebejus idas)
Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)
Owl (Caligo atreus)
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Palos Verdes Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis)
Paradise Birdwing (Ornithoptera paradisea)
Peacock (Inachis io)
Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
Postman (Heliconius melpomene)
Purple Emperor (Apatura iris)
Queen (Danaus gilippus)
Queen Alexandra’s birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae)
Queen Swallowtail (Papilio androgeus)
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Red Cracker (Hamadryas amphinome)
Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis)
Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
Scarlet Tiger moth (Panaxia dominula)
Sharp-veined White (Pieris napi)
Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia)
Small Postman (Heliconius erato)
Snout (Libytheana carinenta)
Sonora Blue (Philotes sonorensis)
Southern Dogface (Colias cesonia)
Southern Festoon (Zerynthia polyxena)
Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus)
Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis vaualbum)
Two-tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius)
Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)
Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus)
White Admiral (Ladoga camilla)
Wood White (Leptidea sinapis)
Yucca moth (Tegeticule yuccasella)
Zebra (Colobura dirce)
Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charitonia)