Overview
The Nymphalidae are characterised in both sexes by the tricarinate antenna and the elongate chaetosemata being parallel to the eye margin; the legs are described above. Ackery (1984) records 13 subfamilies of which 8 occur in Australia.
Description
Small to large; most antennal segments with 2 ventral grooves; maxillary palps 1-segmented; labial palps ascending; epiphysis absent, male fore legs lack pretarsus, with fewer than 5 tarsomeres, lack tarsal spines, and covered with long scales; female fore legs reduced in size and not used for walking (except female
Libythea
); spurs 0-2-2 or 0-0-0; fore wing with all branches of R present, 1A + 2A simple or forming a basal fork; hind wing with humeral vein usually present, Sc + R
1
diverging from Rs near base, 2 anal veins. Egg taller than diameter, with vertical and horizontal ribs, or nearly spherical and sometimes nearly smooth. Larva with long, paired filaments, branching spines, or with fine, secondary setae and bifid anal segment or horned head; crochets multiordinal. Pupa suspended by cremaster or, rarely, loose on ground beneath debris.