Superfamily Noctuoidea - Owlet Moths and kin

Classification · Pronunciation · Numbers · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited

Festive Midget Moth - Elaphria festivoides

unknown daylight-flying moth - Megalographa biloba

Green/Black Fuzzy Caterpillar - Lophocampa mixta

Erebidae: Spilosoma congrua - Spilosoma congrua

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)

Pronunciation

nawk-too-OID-ee-ah

Numbers

Five families occur in North America; a tiny sixth family (Oenosandridae) is limited to Australasia.

Remarks

The higher taxonomy of this group was in considerable flux until molecular phylogenetic analysis by Zahiri et al. (2010) established six well-supported lineages within Noctuoidea: Noctuidae, Erebidae, Notodontidae, Nolidae, Euteliidae, and Oenosandridae.

Taxa represented in our area that were considered at various times to be families include most notably Arctiinae (Erebidae), Lymantriinae (Erebidae), and Dioptinae (Notodontidae).

Multiple molecular analyses have revealed the minor family Doidae to not belong within Noctuoidea.

Print References

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).

Zahiri, R., I.J. Kitching, J.D. Lafontaine, M. Mutanen, L. Kaila, J.D. Holloway, and N. Wahlberg. 2010. A new molecular phylogeny offers hope for a stable family level classification of the Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera). Zoologica Scripta 40: 158–173.(1)

Schmidt, B. C., & Lafontaine, J. D. (Eds.). 2010. Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico, Vol. 40. PenSoft Publishers LTD.

Works Cited

1.	A new molecular phylogeny offers hope for a stable family level classification of the Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera) Zahiri, R., I.J. Kitching, J.D. Lafontaine, M. Mutanen, L. Kaila, J.D. Holloway, and N. Wahlberg. 2010. Zoologica Scripta 40: 158–173.

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 28 February, 2006 - 6:52pm
Additional contributions by Chuck Entz, Maury Heiman, ceiseman, Robert Lord Zimlich, Kyhl Austin, Blocky, Arturo Santos
Last updated 16 April, 2022 - 10:10pm

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