Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Genus Megalopyge

Fluffy moth - Megalopyge opercularis Little Puff of Fluff - with a pretty big sting - Megalopyge opercularis moth - Megalopyge opercularis - male Lagoa crispata - Black-waved Flannel Moth - Megalopyge crispata - male Yellow Flannel Moth - Megalopyge pyxidifera - male Flannel moth caterpillar #2 - Megalopyge Megalopyge opercularis - Southern Flannel Moth - Megalopyge opercularis Larva Day 17 - Megalopyge lapena
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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)
Family Megalopygidae (Flannel Moths)
Genus Megalopyge
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Megalopyge Hübner, 1820
Alphis Walker, 1855
Chrysopyga Herrich-Schäffer, 1855
Cyclara Schaus, 1896
Gasina Walker, 1855
Lagoa Harris, 1841
Ochrosoma Herrich-Schäffer, 1856
Oylothrix Clemens, 1860
Pimela Clemens, 1860
Podalia Walker, 1856
Zebonda Walker, 1865
Explanation of Names
Lagoa Harris, 1841 was treated as a synonym of Megalopyge in Neumoegen & Dyar (1894). This synonymy was reversed and then reapplied several times since. Dyar (1903) & (1910) treated Lagoa as a valid species. Forbes (1923) and Hopp in Seitz (1934) followed the synonymy. McDunnough (1937) recognized Lagoa as did Davis in the Hodges 1983 Checkist (1). Becker (1995) (2), Epstein & Becker (1995) (3) and Epstein (1996) (4) placed Lagoa back as a synonym of Megalopyge, having found no reason for overturning the synonymy. Pohl et al. (2016) (5) followed Becker (1995). - paraphrased from comments by Marc Epstein 5/15/2018
Numbers
Nearctica.com lists seven species for North America, including some that were formerly assigned to the genus Lagoa.
Print References
Hopp, W. 1934-1935. Megalopygidae. In A. Seitz. editor. The Macrolepidoptera of the World. 6:1071-1101. Stuttgart: Alfred Keman. [Plates published in 1935.]
Neumoegen, B. & H.G. Dyar, 1894. Preliminary Revision of the Bombyces of America North of Mexico. Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 2: 110, 173.
Works Cited
1.Check list of the Lepidoptera of America north of Mexico.
Hodges, et al. (editors). 1983. E. W. Classey, London. 284 pp.
2.The Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part 2
Becker, V.O. Megalopygidae. in J.B. Heppner (ed.). in J.B. Heppner (ed.). 1995. Association for Tropical Lepidoptera and Scientific Publishers, 118-122.
3.The Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part 2
Becker, V.O. & M.E. Epstein. Limacodidae. in J.B. Heppner (ed.). 1995. Association for Tropical Lepidoptera and Scientific Publishers, 128-133.
4.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.
5.Annotated taxonomic checklist of the Lepidoptera of North America, North of Mexico
Pohl, G.R., Patterson, B., & Pelham, J.P. 2016. ResearchGate.net.