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

Family Erebidae

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited
Pyralid Moth - Hypena humuli Ommatochila Moth - Hodges#8489 - Ommatochila mundula Baltimore Hypena - Hypena baltimoralis salt marsh moth - Estigmene acrea Macrochilo hypocritalis Spilosoma virginica Leconte's Haploa (Haploa lecontei) ??? - Haploa lecontei Spargaloma sexpunctata
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 Erebidae
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Erebidae, Leach 1815
* formerly part of Noctuidae; includes the former noctuid subfamilies Calpinae, Catocalinae, Herminiinae, Hypeninae, among others.
Explanation of Names
Erebidae from the type genus Erebus (Latreille), Greek meaning "from the darkness." (1), (2)
Numbers
956 species in our area according to Pohl et al. (3)
Identification
Below is a guide to the local subfamilies of Erebidae. The images included are meant to be illustrative of the general appearance of each subfamily as an aid for narrowing down possibilities for identification. While the commonest elements of forewing maculation in each subfamily are represented, many patterns are not.

Erebinae



Arctiinae



Herminiinae



Boletobiinae



Eulepidotinae



Scolecocampinae



Hypeninae



Lymantriinae                                                                                                                                           Scoliopteryginae

                             

Hypocalinae                                                                                                                                            Hypenodinae

                             

Calpinae                                                                                                                                                  Rivulinae

                               

Pangraptinae                                                                           Anobinae                                                                                  Toxocampinae

                                                             
Remarks
A monophyletic family. One of five North American families in the superfamily Noctuoidea.
Internet References
Pacific Northwest Moths
Wikipedia
Works Cited
1.Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms
Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.
2.An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera, with hints on the derivation of the names.
Anonymous. 1858. The Entomological Societies of Oxford and Cambridge.
3.Annotated taxonomic checklist of the Lepidoptera of North America, North of Mexico
Pohl, G.R., Patterson, B., & Pelham, J.P. 2016. ResearchGate.net.
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 26 February, 2006 - 7:43pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Maury Heiman, Randy Hardy, Kyhl Austin, Blocky
Last updated 1 February, 2022 - 1:37pm

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