Papilionoidea

The superfamily Papilionoidea (from the genus Papilio, meaning "butterfly") contains all the butterflies except for the moth-like Hedyloidea.

The members of the Papilionoidea may be distinguished by the following combination of characters:

• The body is smaller and less moth-like.
• The wings are larger.
• The antennae are straight and clubbed or hooked as in the skippers.
• The caterpillars do not spin cocoons in which to pupate.
• The pupae are angular rather than rounded.

Recent phylogenetic analyses suggest the traditionally circumscribed Papilionoidea are a paraphyletic group, and that skippers (family Hesperiidae) and Neotropical moth-like butterflies (family Hedylidae) are true butterflies that should be included within the Papilionoidea superfamily to reflect cladistic relationships.