Most of New Zealand's butterflies belong to the Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae families.

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Rights: University of Waikato Published 8 August 2018 Referencing Hub media
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Butterflies are categorised into 5 families – Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Riodinidae and Lycaenidae. In New Zealand, our butterfly species fall into 3 of these families, while 2 families are not represented.

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    New Zealand butterfly origins

    Butterflies make very poor fossils. They have no bones or other solid matter that can be preserved. Therefore, unlike other animals, we can’t use their fossils to trace the history of when they ...

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