Talk:Lycaenidae
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Opening paragraph[edit]
It currently reads: "Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind the Brush-footed butterflies), with over 5,000 species worldwide,[1] whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 40% of the known butterfly species.[2]"
If 5,000 species represents 40%, the total number of species would be 12,500. The Nymphalidae article says: "Nymphalidae is the largest family of butterflies with about 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world." This would mean that other 4 families only account for 1,500 species between them, which is simply not true. Hesperiidae alone contains 4,000 species.
According to http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/World%20Census.htm (which seems to be a reliable source; the data is collated from "Tolman 1997, Larsen 2005, Lamas 2004, d'Abrera 2001, Scott 1992, Preston-Mafham 1988, McCubbin 1971, Eliot/Corbet & Pendlebury 1992, Shields 1989, Ackery 1995"), the total number of butterfly species is not 12,500 but between 17,000 and 19,000.
I suggest that the sentence "They constitute about 40% of the known butterfly species." should just be removed. --Sarabseth (talk) 02:04, 4 September 2013 (UTC)
References
- ^ Fiedler, K. 1996. Host-plant relationships of lycaenid butterflies: large-scale patterns, interactions with plant chemistry, and mutualism with ants. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 80(1):259-267 doi:10.1007/BF00194770 [1]
- ^ Venkatesha, MG. 2005. Why is homopterophagous butterfly, Spalgis epius (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) amyrmecophilous? Current Science 89 (2): 245-246. [2]