(from P.R. Ackery et al. 1999; in N.P. Kristensen ed., Handbuch der Zoologie part 35, pp. 263-300; see also Robbins & Opler 1997 Butterfly diversity and a preliminary comparison with bird and mammal diversity. IN: Biodiversity II, Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources. D. E. Wilson, M. L. Reaka-Kudla, & E. O. Wilson (eds.)., pp. 69-82, Joseph Henry Press, Washington, DC)
 

SUPERFAMILY; Family	Subfamily	Tribe	no. genera	no. spp.
HESPERIOIDEA				[3,500]
Hesperiidae	Coeliadinae		8	75
	Pyrrhopyginae		20	150
	Pyrginae		160	1,000
	Heteropterinae		16	150
	Trapezitinae		16	60
	Hesperiinae		325	>2,000
PAPILIONOIDEA				[14,000]
Papilionidae	Baroniinae		1	1
	Parnassiinae		8	54-76
	Papilioninae		17	550
Pieridae	Dismorphiinae		6	100
	Pseudopontinae		1	1
	Pierinae		55	700
	Coliadinae		12	250
Lycaenidae	Riodininae		140	1,250
	Poritiinae		47	530
	Miletinae		18	150
	Curetinae		1	18
	Lycaeninae		500	4,000
Nymphalidae	Libytheinae		2	12
	Heliconiinae		40	400
	Nymphalinae		60	350
	Limenitinae		100	>1,000
	Charaxinae		28	400
	Apaturinae		20	430
	Morphinae		40	230
	Satyrinae		280	2,400
	Calinaginae		1	8
	Danainae	Danaini	11	162
		Tellervini	1	6
		Ithomiini	50	>300
HEDYLOIDEA				[40]
Hedylidae			1	40
BUTTERFLIES IN TOTAL			[1,985]	[17,500]
LEPIDOPTERA IN TOTAL (see details)				[150,000 est. described]
(see Kristensen & Skalski 1999; loc. cit., pp. 7-25)				[300,000- 500,000 total]

Number of species of butterflies + skippers by biogeographic region

(from Robbins,RK; Opler,PA (1997): Butterfly diversity and a preliminary comparison with bird and mammal diversity. In: Biodiversity II. Understanding and Protecting our Biological Resources. (Eds: Reaka-Kudla,ML; Wilson,DE; Wilson,EO) National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, 69-82).
 

Biogeographic Realm	Numbers of species
Nearctic	750
Neotropical	7,500
Palaearctic	1,550
Afrotropical	3,650
Oriental + Australian tropics	4,500
TOTAL FOR WORLD	17,950