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Superfamily Zygaenoidea - Flannel, Slug Caterpillar, Leaf Skeletonizer Moths and kin

Warm-chevroned Moth - Hodges#4652 - Tortricidia testacea brown with a lightning bolt - Euclea obliqua Grapeleaf Skeletonizer Moth - Hodges #4624 - Harrisina americana - male Limacodidae: Lithacodes fasciola - Lithacodes fasciola Hag moth larvae-early instar - Phobetron pithecium MothJeweledTailedSlug_Packardia_geminata06032019_GH_ - Packardia geminata monkey slug - Phobetron pithecium Hag moth caterpillar? - Phobetron pithecium
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 Zygaenoidea (Flannel, Slug Caterpillar, Leaf Skeletonizer Moths and kin)
Explanation of Names
From the type genus Zygaena, Greek for "a kind of shark." (1)
Identification
Adult - frequently woolly and have stout bodies and bipectinate male antennae (sometimes also bipectinate in females). They are small to medium large, with forewing lengths (base to apex) ranging from 4 mm to 4 0 mm.

Below is a guide to the local families of Zygaenoidea. 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.







Dalceridae                                Epipyropidae                             Lacturidae
                                
Life Cycle
Onset of cocoon construction is marked by final frass pellets that are frequently a chalky white. With the exception of the Dalceridae, cocoons in the limacodid group have trap-door exits or lids. Lids are opened by the pupa, which pushes nearly completely out of the cocoon prior to eclosion. (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.Revision and phylogeny of the Limacodid-Group families, with evolutionary studies on Slug Caterpillars Lepidoptera: Zygaenoidea
Marc E. Epstein. 1996. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 582.