The superfamily Papilionoidea contains all the butterflies except for the skippers, which are classified in superfamily Hesperioidea.

Some authors treat this grouping as a series (Papilioniformes) within a single superfamily that also includes the skippers. However, all are agreed that, although all the butterflies constitute a single monophyletic clade, a distinction needs to be made between the skippers and the rest of the butterflies. Compared with the skippers, in the families that are here counted within Papilionoidea:

• the body is smaller and less moth-like
• the wings are larger
• the antennae are straight and clubbed (rather than hooked as in the skippers)
• the caterpillars do not spin cocoons to pupate in
• the pupae are angular rather than rounded.

The families of Papilionoidea are:

• Swallowtails or Birdwings, Papilionidae
• Whites or Yellow-Whites, Pieridae
• Blues and Coppers or Gossamer-Winged Butterflies, Lycaenidae
• Metalmark butterflies, Riodinidae
• Snout butterflies , Libytheidae
• Brush-footed butterflies, Nymphalidae