Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
A number of subfamilies formerly classified under Noctuidae are now placed in family
Erebidae. These include Calpinae, Catocalinae, Euteliinae, Herminiinae, and Hypeninae, among others (see
All-Leps).
BugGuide currently follows the classification shown at
All-Leps (See
discussion here). Jean-Francois Landry and Don Lafontaine of Agriculture Canada, and John Burns and Scott Miller of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History are curators of the list, with assistance from others named at the bottom of
this page. The classification of moths is continuously under study, and further changes are inevitable.
Numbers
One of seven North American families in the superfamily Noctuoidea listed at
All-Leps (or eight families, if Pantheinae is given family status [
Pantheidae], according to Kitching and Rawlins, 1999).
Insects of Cedar Creek mentions 18 recognized subfamilies of Noctuidae with 2,925 North American species, but those numbers follow the
Check list of the Lepidoptera of America north of Mexico by Hodges et al (1983) which is now outdated.
24 subfamilies are currently recognized in
western Canada by CBIF, which loosely follows the classification of Kitching and Rawlins, 1999. Two of those subfamilies (Bagisarinae and Bryophilinae) are not represented in
eastern Canada.
Remarks
BugGuide currently follows the moth classification and nomenclature used at
All-Leps.
Print References
Hodges, R.W., T. Dominick, D.R. Davis, D.C. Ferguson, J.G. Franclemont, E.G. Munroe, and J.A. Powell. 1983. Check list of the Lepidoptera of America north of Mexico. E.W. Classey Ltd. and The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation. London. 282 pages.
Kitching, I.J., and J.E. Rawlins. 1999. (The Noctuoidea, pp. 355-401 in Kristensen N.P. (editor). Lepidoptera: Moths and butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, systematics and biogeography. Handbook of Zoology/Handbuch der Zoologie. Walter de Gruyter. Berlin/New York).
Internet References
The Moths of Canada (Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility)
classification of superfamily Noctuoidea, showing seven families (All-Leps)
