Meaning of Names - Help required

[Ian Thirlwell]

There is an excellent book which will help for the British species:
"The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera, Their History and Meaning"
by A. Maitland Emmet, published 1991, Harley Books (with which I have no
connection!).
 A family name derivation will be found under the appropriate genus name
that is the 'same' as the family, eg for Lycaenidae see Lycaena, or more
straightforwardly for Danaidae the genus Danaus, named after Danaus, the
King of Argos. (The derivation of Lycaena, in Emmet, is unclear, with
several explanations.)

Ian Thirlwell
Hampshire
UK
Ian at dunlinclose.freeserve.co.uk


John Patterson wrote in message <36AC648A.B7BE8C54 at net.ntl.com>...
>I am new to Butterflies and crave your patience.
>
>I understand that Lepidoptera comes from the Greek and that Lepis =
>'scale' and pteron = 'wing'
>
>I am aware that there are 9 families of European Butterflies:
>Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Riodinidae, Libytheidae, Danaidae,
>Nymphalidae, Satyridae, Hesperiidae.
>I do not know what the names mean.
>I do not know how these families got their names.
>
>If you look at Nymphalidae - I know what a Nymph is, but what has that
>got to do with this group of Butterflies.
>
>Can anyone help me with what the names mean and how these families got
>their names.
>
>John Patterson
>
>