Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Superfamily Gelechioidea - Twirler Moths and kin

Leafroller caterpillar - Helcystogramma melantherella Antaeotricha leucillana? - Antaeotricha Silverado Moth #1 Polyhymno? - Polyhymno n-sp-two Black and gray moth - Chionodes bicostomaculella twirler - Strobisia proserpinella Mompha terminella? - Mompha Unidentified Gelechiid (2)
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 Gelechioidea (Twirler Moths and kin)
Other Common Names
Curved-horn Moths
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Gelechioidea Stainton, 1854
We follow the classification proposed by Heikkilä et al. (2014) (1)
Explanation of Names
Gelechioidea from the type genus Gelechia (Hübner), from Greek meaning "resting on the ground." (2)
Numbers
15 families in our area (3).
Identification
Many have characteristically curved very large labial palps, hence the name "curved-horn moths".


Below is a guide to the local families of Gelechioidea. The images included are meant to be illustrative of the general appearance of each family as an aid for narrowing down possibilities for identification. While the commonest elements of forewing maculation in each family are represented, many patterns are not.





























Remarks
The superfamily contains the case-bearers, twirler moths, flower moths, and others.
It is a poorly known group of Microlepidoptera. The taxonomy needs revision. At least 1,425 genera and 18,500 species are described. This is probably only 25% of the species.
Print References
Bucheli, S.R., 2009. Annotated review and discussion of phylogenetically important characters for families and subfamilies of Gelechioidea (Insecta: Lepidoptera). Zootaxa 2261, 1-22.
Works Cited
1.Morphology reinforces proposed molecular phylogenetic affinities: a revised classification for Gelechioidea (Lepidoptera)
Heikkilä, M., Mutanen, M., Kekkonen, M. and Kaila, L. 2014. Cladistics 30: 563–589.
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.