Nymphalini

Nymphalini
Inachis io
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
(unranked):	Rhopalocera
Superfamily:	Papilionoidea
Family:	Nymphalidae
Subfamily:	Nymphalinae
Tribe:	Nymphalini Rafinesque, 1815
Genera
Numerous, see text

Nymphalini is a tribe of nymphalid brush-footed butterflies. Common names include admirals, anglewings, commas, and tortoiseshells, but none of these is specific to one particular genus.

This monophyletic group of nymphaline butterflies inhabiting northern hemisphere are characterized by a jagged outline of their wings and the ability to survive the winter months as adults in an obligatory hibernal diapause, hiding in various shelters (e.g., crevices, hollows, cavities, even unheated buildings). The signature mark of all butterflies is the cryptic colour and maculation of the ventral (under) side of their wings, serving to conceal the hibernating butterfly against the substrate on which it rests.

Genera

Listed alphabetically.

• Aglais Dalman, 1816 – tortoiseshells
• Antanartia Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 – African red admirals
• Araschnia Hübner, 1819
• Hypanartia Hübner, 1821 – mapwings
• Inachis – European Peacock (now in Aglais)
• Kaniska Moore, 1899 – Blue Admiral (often in Polygonia)
• Mynes Boisduval, 1832
• Nymphalis Kluk, 1781 – anglewings, tortoiseshells
• Polygonia Hübner, 1819 – anglewings, commas
• Pycina Doubleday, 1849 (tentatively placed here)
• Symbrenthia Hübner, 1819 – jesters
• Vanessa Fabricius, 1807 – red admirals, Kamehameha butterflies, painted ladies

The monotypic genus Tigridia is sometimes placed here as a very basal offshoot close to Colobura, sometimes in the related tribe Coeini.

Prehistoric genera only known from fossils are:

• †Jupitella Carpenter, 1985
• †Mylothrites Scudder, 1875

References

• Korshunov, 1995. [Butterflies of the Asian part of Russia. A handbook] Dnevnye babochki Aziatskoi chasti Rossii. Spravochnik.:202 pp. (re: Roddia)
• Kudrna, O. & J. Belicek, 2005. The Wiener Verzeichnis, its authorship, publication date and some names proposed for butterflies therein. Oedippus 23: 1-32. (re: Schiffermüller names)
• Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Clases, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Symonymis, Locis. Tomis I. 10th Edition Syst. Nat. (Edn 10). (re: N. antiopa, P. c-album, P. c-aureum, I. io, N. polychloros, A. urticae)