Snout Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Libytheidae)

Snout butterflies, family Libytheidae (also called beaks), are a small family of only 12 species but with at least one species in each faunal region. Alternate classifications, either as a separate family, or as a subfamily within Nymphalidae, continue to plague specialist views on the group, but the family basically represents the lineage to Nymphalidae and are very unique if included within the latter family. The family is in the superfamily Papilionoidea (series Papilioniformes), in the section Cossina, subsection Bombycina, of the division Ditrysia. Adults medium size (25–55 mm wingspan), with very long porrect labial palpi; forelegs somewhat reduced and not used for walking. Wings triangular, typically with a falcate forewing apex, often somewhat truncated; hindwing relatively rounded with emarginate margin. Maculation mostly shades of brown with orange or red suffusion and some light and dark spotting. Adults are diurnal. Larvae are leaf feeders. Host plants are in Ulmaceae...