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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Nolid Moths (Nolidae)

Family Nolidae - Nolid Moths

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Food · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited
Ash Colored Nycteola Moth - Nycteola cinereana A Baileya sp. - Baileya ophthalmica Diphthera festiva Hieroglyphic Moth - Diphthera festiva Geometridae Meganola minuscula - Confused Meganola - Meganola minuscula Moth F - Baileya australis Noctuidae? - Garella nilotica Baileya australis
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 Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)
Family Nolidae (Nolid Moths)
Explanation of Names
Nolidae is from the type genus Nola. Leach named them for the Italian town of Nola. (1)
Numbers
7 subfamilies; 12 genera with 40 species in our area (2) . At least three more species are undescribed and awaiting description.
Identification
All 40 described species of Nolidae found in North America north of Mexico are included here with the exception of three species without images in the guide, leaving 37 described species with images on this page. One undescribed species is also included; at least two additional undescribed species are found in North America north of Mexico.

Nolinae

Nola — 10 species

N. pustulata                 N. cilicoides                  N. cereella                   N. triquetrana               N. minna

       

N. ovilla                       N. clethrae                   N. lagunculariae           N. involuta                    N. cucullatella

      [missing]                     [missing]

Meganola — 9 species                                                                                                                                                                             Cephalospargeta — 1 species

M. minuscula                M. phylla                     M. georgei                    M. spodia                     M. minor                                                       C. elongata

                                             

M. fuscula                    M. dentata                   M. varia                      M. conspicua

     

Risobinae

Baileya — 7 species

B. doubledayi               B. ophthalmica             B. dormitans                B. acadiana                  B. levitans                   B. ellessyoo                  B. australis

           

Chloephorinae

Nycteola — 5 described species, 1 undescribed

N. frigidana                  N. columbiana              N. n. sp.                      N. cinereana                N. metaspilella              N. fletcheri

         

Garella — 1 species

G. nilotica

         

Eligminae                                                                                  Collomeninae

Iscadia — 1 species                                                                          Motya — 1 species                                          Collomena — 1 species

I. aperta                                                                                           M. abseuzalis                                                   C. inflexa

                                                                                                             

Afridinae                                                                                                                                                         Diphtherinae

Afrida — 3 described species, multiple undescribed                                                                                                   Diphthera — 1 species

A. ydatodes                 A. exegens                  A. minuta                                                                                            D. festiva

      [missing]                                                                                           

Technical Characteristics: males with a 'bar-shaped' retinaculum (similar to that of Arctiids); moths of one of two types:
1) fw with Rs veins arising from a single stalk and with tufts of raised scales, OR
2) fw with accessory cell, frons glossy on lower half, distance between eyes narrower than eye width in frontal view
(description by Gerald Fauske at Moths of North Dakota)
Range
represented throughout North America
Food
larvae feed on woody plants, forbs, or grasses
Remarks
Mainly an Old World family; about 2 percent of all species occur in North America.
Internet References
description of family, and other info (Moths of North Dakota)
pinned adult images of species in eastern Canada (CBIF)
pinned adult images of species in western Canada (CBIF)
classification (Butterflies & Moths of the World)
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.Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico.
Donald J. Lafontaine, B. Christian Schmidt. 2010. ZooKeys 40: 1–239 .
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 15 May, 2005 - 10:28pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Randy Hardy, Kyhl Austin, Blocky, Nathaniel Green
Last updated 10 August, 2023 - 3:03pm

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