Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Genus Nymphalis - Tortoiseshells

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) - Nymphalis antiopa Mourning Cloak - Nymphalis antiopa Mourning Cloak - Nymphalis antiopa Compton Tortoiseshell - Nymphalis vau-album Mourning Cloak butterfly - emmission - Nymphalis antiopa Monarch Moth ? - Nymphalis californica California Tortoiseshell - Nymphalis californica Mourning Cloak, freshly emerged from chrysalis - Nymphalis antiopa
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies (excluding skippers))
Family Nymphalidae (Brushfooted Butterflies)
Subfamily Nymphalinae (Crescents, Checkerspots, Anglewings, etc.)
Genus Nymphalis (Tortoiseshells)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Scudderia Grote, 1873 [Homonym - invalid]
Euvanessa Scudder, 1889
Roddia Korshunov, 1995
Antiopana Korb, 2005
Explanation of Names
The species N. vau-album = N. l-album = N. j-album has been separated by some into the genus Roddia. This is not generally accepted by most, but has caught on with some. Using Johathon Pelham's listing as a standard, the genus Roddia is not recognized in BugGuide as distinct from Nymphalis. The differences are trivial, and molecular studies do not support their distinction at generic level.

see Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada. Jonathan Pelham. 2008. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 40: xiv + 658 pp.

or

Preparatory to publication of the Catalogue - PDF © Jonathan P. Pelham August 2006

It is highly debated as to whether Roddia is a genus distinct from Nymphalis. General opinion and cytological studies both favor it not being disinct. The use of the name Roddia will probably turn out to be a short-lived "fad". Further, some would include Polyognia, Kaniska, Aglais (includes Inachis), Roddia, and Nymphalis all as one genus, and there are good arguments for this too.
[For example, see here: FUNET] However, most would prefer to have at least some of these remain as distinct genera.

The following paper goes into great detail on proposed phylogenetic relationships based on cytology, and proposes a classification for the subfamily Nymphalinae. It is probably very close to what will become generally accepted in the future. Roddia is not recognized as distinct in this study.

Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of tribes and genera in the subfamily Nymphalinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) NIKLAS WAHLBERG, ANDREW V. Z. BROWER, and SÖREN NYLIN. 2005, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 86: 227–251.

On similar grounds, the Milbert's Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae is excluded from Nymphalis and placed in the separate genus Aglais (see discussion in Taxonomy Forum)

[comment revised 05/06/08 by David J. Ferguson]
Numbers
6 or 7 species World-wide (depending on if Kaniska canace is included).
4 species in North America (one is only in Mexico).
Range
Northern Hemisphere in temperate and boreal regions.
Food
Larvae feed primarily on Betulaceae, Salicaceae and Ulmaceae.

Adults rarely visit flowers, and tend to favor plant sap, fermenting fruit, carrion, etc.
Life Cycle
Overwinter as adults, and may produce one to several broods per year depending upon the species and the region.