Butterflies Temporal range: Palaeocene–present ~60 mya
Papilio machaon
Scientific classification
Unrecognized taxon (fix):	Rhopalocera
Subgroups
Superfamily Hedyloidea: Hedylidae Superfamily Papilionoidea: Hesperiidae Lycaenidae Nymphalidae Papilionidae Pieridae Riodinidae

The regent skipper (Euschemon rafflesia) is the most distinct skipper butterfly, forming a subfamily of the Hesperiidae

Some butterflies do camouflage: the excellent leaf-mimic Gonepteryx rhamni, the common brimstone, on purple loosestrife

Kallima inachus is a nymphalid butterfly found in tropical Asia. With its wings closed, it looks like a dry leaf with dark veins

The same butterfly, Kallima inachus, showing the upper side of its wings.

A butterfly is a usually day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera. They are grouped together in the suborder Rhopalocera. Butterflies are closely related to moths, from which they evolved. The earliest discovered fossil moth dates to 200 million years ago.

The life of butterflies is closely connected to flowering plants, which their larvae (caterpillars) feed on, and their adults feed and lay their eggs on. They have a long-lasting history of co-evolution with flowering plants. Many of the details of plant anatomy are related to their pollinators, and vice versa. The other notable features of butterflies are their extraordinary range of colours and patterns, and their wings. These are discussed below.

Angiosperms (flowering plants) evolved in the Lower Cretaceous, but did not become common until the Upper Cretaceous. Butterflies were the last major group of insects to appear on the planet. They evolved from moths in the latest Cretaceous or the earliest Cainozoic. The earliest known butterfly fossils date to the mid Eocene epoch, between 40–50 million years ago.