Butterflies are insects from the order Lepidoptera which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous fluttering flight. The current butterfly checklist in Hong Kong contains 245 species in 5 families which are Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, and Pieridae, each different in shape, colour, flight pattern and other characteristics. The table below shows the features of 4 butterfly species commonly found in Hong Kong.

Species	Troides aeacus	Papilio protenor	Pieris canidia	Delias pasithoe
Family	Papilionidae	Papilionidae	Pieridae	Pieridae
Chinese name	金裳鳳蝶	黑鳳蝶	緣點白粉蝶	報喜斑粉蝶
Common name	Golden Birdwing	Spangle	Indian Cabbage White	Red-base Jezebel
Description	Black forewings with veins bordered by whitish colour. Hindwings are bright yellow.	Velvety indigo-black, duller on the forewings than on the hindwings. Hindwings with a broad pale yellowish-white subcostal streak.	Wings are mainly white while the wing tips and surfaces are decorated with black patches. Slow flyer.	Wings are broadly dusted with black. Underside of hindwing has a large patch of yellow scales and a basal red mark.
Wingspan	95 – 160 mm	90 – 115 mm	50 – 60 mm	60 – 70 mm
Commonly seen period	April to October	February to November	Throughout the whole year	Throughout the whole year
Global distribution	Northern India, Nepal, Burma, China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia.	Northern Pakistan, Burma, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan	Bangladesh, Burma, Taiwan, India, China	Nepal, North-East India, Northern Burma, Vietnam, China
Conservation status	Listed in Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance. AFCD assessment: rare	AFCD assessment: very common	AFCD assessment: very common	AFCD assessment: very common

References:

https://www.afcd.gov.hk/

https://www.wetlandpark.gov.hk/