This is a list of butterflies of Japan. About 327 species are known from Japan.[1]
Japan is home to a nine forest ecoregions, which reflect its climate and geography. The islands that constitute Japan generally have a humid climate, which ranges from warm subtropical in the southern islands to cool temperate on the northern island of Hokkaidō.
The most important and threatened butterfly habitat in Japan is Satoyama a Japanese term applied to the border zone or area between mountain foothills and arable flat land.
Bernard d'Abrera, 1991-1993 Butterflies of the Holarctic Region, 3 Parts (pt. 1. Papilionidae, Pieridae, Danaidae & Satyridae (partim) -pt. 2. Satyridae (concl.) & Nymphalidae (partim) -pt. 3. Nymphalidae (concl.), Libytheidae, Riodinidae & Lycaenidae., Hill House, Victoria ISBN0646062557
P. A. Ler Ed. 2001 Key to the insects of the Far East of Russia, Vol. 5, Part 3: Trichoptera and Lepidoptera Dal'nauka, Vladivostok ISBN5804400924
Shibatani, A. and S. Ito, 1942. Beitrag zur systematik der Theclinae im kaiserreich Japan unter besonderer berucksichtigung der sogenannten gattung Zephyrus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Nature Life (Kyungpook J. bio. Sci.) 15: 33-46, figs.
Pryer, H. J. S., 1886. Rhopalocera Nihonica: a description of the butterflies of Japan, Ed. 1: 12 pp, 3 pls; Ed 2: xiii +35pp, 10pls
Igarashi, S. and H. Fukuda. 1997- . The life histories of Asian butterflies Tokai University Press, Tokyo.
S Ishikawa, 1994 Cho (Butterflies) Living in Japan Maruzen Company Ltd ISBN4892427225
Motomu Teshirogi, 1997 An Illustrated Book of the Japanese Nymphalidae Tōkyō: Tōkai Daigaku Shuppankai (Tokyo University Press) ISBN4486010973
Motomu Teshirogi, 1997 An Illustrated Book of the Japanese Lycaenidae Tōkyō: Tōkai Daigaku Shuppankai. ISBN9784486014058
Toshio Inomata Ed. Colour photographs by Katsuji Iwao. 1986.Atlas of the Japanese Butterflies Take Shobo Co. Ltd., 7-3, lidabashi 2, Chiyoda, Tokyo, 102 Japan.500 pp., numerous text figs., 86 color plates.
Taro Iwase, 1954 Synopsis of the known life-histories of Japanese butterflies The Lepidopterists' News 1954: 95-100 pdf
Wilhem de Haan 1833- with Japanese artist naturalists Keiga Kawahara Kurimoto Masayoshi and others.Fauna Japonica sive Descriptio animalium, quae in itinere per Japoniam, jussu et auspiciis superiorum, qui summum in India Batava imperium tenent, suscepto, annis 1825 - 1830 collegit, notis, observationibus et adumbrationibus illustravit Ph. Fr. de Siebold. Conjunctis studiis C. J. Temminck et H. Schlegel pro vertebratis atque W. de Haan pro invertebratis elaborata (Fauna Japonica in five serial volumes published between 1833 and 1850)
Database MOKUROKU Based on Y. Hirashima, 1989 & 1990 Entomological Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University and Japan Wild Life Research Center (eds.), 1989, A Check List of Japanese Insects. 1,767 pp, Fukuoka. (In Japanese)
Osaka Prefecture University Harmony Museum Lepidoptera collection images including types (under Scientific materials)
Kyoichiro Ueda, Yoshihisa Sawada, Yutaka Yoshiyasu and Toshiya Hirowatari, 2000 A list ofJapanese Insect Collection by P. F. von Siebold and H. Burger preserved in Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Leiden, the Netherlands Bull. Kitakyushu Mus. Nat. Hist., 19: 43-75, pls. 5. March 31, 2000 online pdf[permanent dead link]