Lepidoptera in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae


In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus classified the arthropods, including insects, arachnids and crustaceans, among his class "Insecta". Butterflies and moths were brought together under the name Lepidoptera. Linnaeus divided the group into three genera – Papilio, Sphinx and Phalaena. The first two, together with the seven subdivisions of the third, are now used as the basis for nine superfamily names: Papilionoidea, Sphingoidea, Bombycoidea, Noctuoidea, Geometroidea, Torticoidea, Pyraloidea, Tineoidea and Alucitoidea.

Themes

When naming the nearly 200 species of butterflies known to him at the time, Linnaeus used names from classical mythology as specific names. These were thematically arranged into six groups, and were drawn from classical sources including the Fabulae of Gaius Julius Hyginus and Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia. The first such group was the Equites, or knights, which were divided into the Equites Trojani and Equites Achivi, and between them named most of the figures involved in the Trojan War. The second group was the Heliconii, comprising Apollo and Muses. The third group was the Danai, divided into the Danai Candidi and the Danai Festivi, representing the Danaids and their husbands. The fourth group was the Nymphales, or nymphs, divided into the Nymphales gemmati and the Nymphales phalerati, on the basis of the insects' wing markings. The fifth group, the Plebeji, were divided into Plebeji Rurales and Plebeji Urbicolae. There is little thematic connection between their names. The final group was the Barbari, or Argonauts.

''Papilio'' (butterflies)

''Equites Trojani''

''Bombyces''