Nymphalidae Forum

The classification of Nymphalidae has been very unstable until recently, mainly due to the poor state of knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships of taxa in the group. There are many groups of species that have for long been recognised as clearly more related to each other than to other nymphalids, but where in the classification these groups should be placed has not been clear. Are they subfamilies? Or tribes? Or subtribes? If these groups are given a lower rank, which higher rank do they then belong to? For most groups this has been quite confused over the past decades, but recently there have been several phylogenetic studies on Nymphalidae which are clearing up the relationships of the clear groups. These new phylogenetic hypotheses are finally allowing us to delimit well-supported clades and name them with available names. On the upper left of these pages you will see an expandable classification of Nymphalidae. This classification is based on a consensus of professionals and amateurs working on the systematics of Nymphalidae. If you are interested in finding out how the classification was arrived at, we invite you to browse through the Forum and/or actively participate in the discussions there.