Editing Lepidoptera (section)

== Distribution and diversity ==
{{main|Lists of Lepidoptera by region}}

The Lepidoptera are among the most successful groups of insects. They are found on all continents, except [[Antarctica]], and inhabit all terrestrial habitats ranging from desert to rainforest, from lowland grasslands to mountain plateaus, but almost always associated with higher plants, especially angiosperms ([[flowering plant]]s).<ref name="cgillott">{{Cite book |last=Gullan |first=P. J. |author2=P. S. Cranston |title=The insects: an outline of entomology |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |date=13 September 2004 |edition=3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781405111133/page/198 198–199] |chapter=7 |isbn=978-1-4051-1113-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qHtMPvaAfKIC&q=Lepidoptera%20larva |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781405111133/page/198 }}</ref> Among the most northern dwelling species of butterflies and moths is the Arctic Apollo (''[[Parnassius arcticus]]''), which is found in the Arctic Circle in northeastern [[Yakutia]], at an altitude of {{Convert|1500|m|ft}} above sea level.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rusinsects.com/p-arct.htm |title=Parnassius arctica Eisner, 1968 |first=Felix |last=Stumpe |work=Russian-Insects.com |access-date=9 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715214958/http://rusinsects.com/p-arct.htm |archive-date=15 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the [[Himalayas]], various Apollo species such as ''[[Parnassius epaphus]]'' have been recorded to occur up to an altitude of {{Convert|6000|m|ft}} above sea level.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ecology and Biogeography of High Altitude Insects |last=Mani |first=M. S. |year=1968 |publisher=Springer |series=Volume 4 of Series entomologica |isbn=978-90-6193-114-0 |page=530 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4qSTCkniZoC&pg=PA221 |access-date=9 November 2010 |archive-date=19 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719043454/https://books.google.com/books?id=n4qSTCkniZoC&pg=PA221 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|221}}

Some lepidopteran species exhibit [[symbiotic]], [[Commensalism|phoretic]], or [[parasitic]] lifestyles, inhabiting the bodies of organisms rather than the environment. [[Coprophagous]] [[Pyralidae|pyralid]] moth species, called [[sloth moth]]s, such as ''[[Bradipodicola hahneli]]'' and ''[[Cryptoses choloepi]]'', are unusual in that they are exclusively found inhabiting the fur of [[sloth]]s, mammals found in [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/10046/terra2008Spring.pdf?sequence=1 |title=An OSU scientist braves an uncharted rainforest in a search for rare and endangered species |last=Sherman |first=Lee |journal=Terra |year=2008 |publisher=Oregon State University |volume=3 |issue=2 |access-date=14 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919170258/http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/10046/terra2008Spring.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=19 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Rau">{{cite journal |last1=Rau |first1=P |year=1941 |title=Observations on certain lepidopterous and hymenopterous parasites of Polistes wasps|doi=10.1093/aesa/34.2.355 |journal=Annals of the Entomological Society of America |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=355–366(12)}}</ref> Two species of ''[[Tinea (moth)|Tinea]]'' moths have been recorded as feeding on horny tissue and have been bred from the horns of cattle. The larva of ''[[Zenodochium]] coccivorella'' is an internal parasite of the [[coccid]] ''[[Kermes (insect)|Kermes]]'' species. Many species have been recorded as breeding in natural materials or refuse such as owl pellets, bat caves, honeycombs or diseased fruit.<ref name="Rau"/>

As of 2007, there were roughly 174,250 lepidopteran species described, with butterflies and [[Skipper (butterfly)|skippers]] estimated to comprise around 17,950, and moths making up the rest.<ref name="Taxome1"/><ref name="Taxome2">{{cite web |url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/rhopnos.html |title=Taxonomy of butterflies: the scale of the problem |author=Mallet, Jim |date=12 June 2007 |work=The Lepidoptera Taxome Project |publisher=University College, London |access-date=8 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514043409/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/rhopnos.html |archive-date=14 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> The vast majority of Lepidoptera are to be found in the tropics, but substantial diversity exists on most continents. North America has over 700 species of butterflies and over 11,000 species of moths,<ref>{{cite book |title=Kaufman field guide to insects of North America |last=Eaton |first=Eric R. |author2=Kaufman, Kenn |year=2007 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-618-15310-7 |page=391 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWVi0IF_jcQC |access-date=22 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724170825/https://books.google.com/books?id=aWVi0IF_jcQC |archive-date=24 July 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The wild silk moths of North America: a natural history of the Saturniidae of the United States and Canada |last=Tuskes |first=Paul M. |author2=Tuttle, James P. |author3=Collins, Michael M.|year=1996 |publisher=Cornell University Press |series=The Cornell series in arthropod biology|edition=illustrated|isbn=978-0-8014-3130-2 |page=250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3vqpGATXU2oC |access-date=12 February 2011}}</ref> while about 400 species of butterflies and 14,000 species of moths are reported from Australia.<ref>{{cite book |title=Wildlife of the Australian snow-country: a comprehensive guide to alpine fauna |last=Green |first=Ken |author2=Osborne, William S.  |year=1994 |publisher=Reed |edition=illustrated|isbn=978-0-7301-0461-2 |page=200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-wZFAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> The diversity of Lepidoptera in each [[biogeographic realm|faunal region]] has been estimated by John Heppner in 1991 based partly on actual counts from the literature, partly on the card indices in the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] (London) and the [[National Museum of Natural History]] (Washington), and partly on estimates:<ref name="Inventory"/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width:80%;"
|+ Diversity of Lepidoptera in each faunal region
|-
|
! scope="col" | [[Palearctic]]
! scope="col" | [[Nearctic]]
! scope="col" | [[Neotropic]]
! scope="col" | [[Afrotropic]]
! scope="col" | Indo-Australian<br/>(comprising [[Indomalayan]], [[Australasian realm|Australasian]], and [[Oceanian realm]]s)
|-
! scope="row" | Estimated number of species
| 22,465
| 11,532
| 44,791
| 20,491
| 47,287
|}