Subfamily Ennominae

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited

Phaeoura quernaria #6763? - Phaeoura quernaria - male

underside Canadian melanolophia - Melanolophia canadaria - male

?Black dotted Ruddy Moth - Ilexia intractata - female

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

Superfamily Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)

Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)

Subfamily Ennominae

Explanation of Names

From they type genus Ennomos, Greek meaning "lawful, just." (1)

Numbers

Contains about half of the world's known species of Geometridae. 751 N. American species.

Identification

The lack of an M2 vein in the hindwing is the distinguishing characteristic of the subfamily (Matthew Barnes, Moths of the Grenadines)

Remarks

Many are gray, but colors vary.

Some images may be hard to place below the subfamily level, without dissection or DNA testing. For example:

Cabera erythemaria -- vs. -- Gueneria similaria

Cabera variolaria -- vs. -- Protitame virginalis

Tracheops bolteri -- vs. -- Carphoides setigera

Print References

(2)

Works Cited

1.	An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera, with hints on the derivation of the names. Anonymous. 1858. The Entomological Societies of Oxford and Cambridge.

2.	Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 5 April, 2005 - 5:53pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Randy Hardy, Robert H. Biagi
Last updated 17 November, 2024 - 11:12am

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