Lepidoptera

? Lepidoptera
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758
Superfamilies
Butterflies Hesperioidea Papilionoidea Moths Micropterigoidea Heterobathmioidea Eriocranioidea Acanthopteroctetoidea Lophocoronoidea Neopseustoidea Mnesarchaeoidea Hepialoidea Nepticuloidea Incurvarioidea Palaephatoidea Tischeriodea Simaethistoidea Tineoidea Gracillarioidea Yponomeutoidea Gelechioidea Zygaenoidea Sesioidea Cossoidea Tortricoidea Choreutoida Urodoidea Galacticoidea Schreckensteinioidea Epermenioidea Pterophoroidea Aluctoidea Immoidea Axioidea Hyblaeoidea Thyridoidea Whalleyanoidea Pyraloidea Mimallonoidea Lasiocampoidea Geometroidea Drepanoidea Bombycoidea Calliduloidae Hedyloidea Noctuoidea

The Lepidoptera is the second largest order of insects comprising butterflies, skippers, and moths. Lepidopterans (members of this order) go through a four-stage life cycle of egg–larva/caterpillar–pupa/chrysalis–imago/adult. Adults have two pairs of membranous wings covered with scales, and mouth parts adapted for sucking.

The order comprises more than 180,000 species in 127 families and 46 superfamilies. It is second only to the Coleoptera (the beetles) in number of species. The name is from Greek "scaly-wing" (lepido-pteron).

See also metamorphosis (biology) and difference between a butterfly and a moth.

Contents 1 Families of Lepidoptera 2 References 3 External links 4 List of currently accepted families 5 List of relegated families 6 Classification according to Fauna Europaea

Families of Lepidoptera

There are thought to be about 130 families in this order, but opinions frequently change among lepidoperists as to which these are. The treatment here is that adopted for the Natural History Museum database [1]. Generally, this uses the families included in the series of reviews published as Kristensen (1999), but for the superfamily Gelechoidea, it retains the system of Nye & Fletcher (1991) rather than the contentious treatment of Hodges in Kristensen. Also, the Riodinidae are retained as a family in anticipation of a publication by Lamas et al which will reinstate this as a full family. (In Kristensen they are treated as a subfamily of the Lycaenidae.) The list also shows where other authors in the fairly recent past have treated groups as belonging in other families. The actual number of families listed here is 126.

Lepidoptera is divided into several suborders, the largest being Ditrysia. Several other classifications of Lepidoptera families are commonly used. Butterflies families are collectively known as Rhopalocera (club-horned), while moth families are collectively known as Heterocera (varied-horned). This, however, is a popular, not scientific division (see: Difference between a butterfly and a moth). Lepidoperists also group families by size of species members: microlepidoptera for small species, and macrolepidoptera for large species.

References

• Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.). 1999. Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches / Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Band / Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Teilband / Part 35: 491 pp. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York.
• Nye, I.W.B. & Fletcher, D.S. 1991. Generic Names of Moths of the World. Volume 6: xxix + 368 pp. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History), London.
• Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders, edited by Christopher O'Toole, ISBN 1-55297-612-2, 2002
• Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa
• British Butterflies and Moths
• Photography of European Butterflies and Moths
• Butterflies and Moths in the Netherlands

External links

• Lepidoptera of North America
• The Butterfly and Moth FAQ Page
• Lepidoptera in online insect museum
• The Lepidoptera of the Quadrilateral
• The Lepidoptera of the Circles

List of currently accepted families

Family	Otherwise included in
Acanthopteroctetidae Davis, 1978
Acrolepiidae Heinemann, 1870	Plutellidae or Yponomeutidae
Acrolophidae	Tineidae
Adelidae Bruand, 1851
Agathiphagidae Kristensen, 1967
Agonoxenidae Meyrick, 1926	Elastichidae or Coleophoridae
Aididae	Megalopygidae
Alucitidae Leach, 1815
Anomoeotidae
Anomosetidae
Anthelidae
Arctiidae Leach, 1815
Arrhenophanidae
Axiidae Rebel, 1919	Noctuidae
Batrachedridae Heinemann & Wocke, 1876	Coleophoridae or Mompidae or Cosmopterigidae
Bedelliidae Meyrick, 1880	Lyonetiidae
Blastobasidae Meyrick, 1894	Coleophoridae
Bombycidae Latreille, 1802
Brachodidae Heppner, 1979	Glyphipterigidae
Brahmaeidae Swinhoe, 1892
Bucculatricidae Wallengren, 1881
Callidulidae
Carposinidae Walsingham, 1897
Carthaeidae
Castniidae
Cecidosidae	Incurvariidae
Choreutidae Stainton, 1854	Glyphipterigidae
Coleophoridae Bruand, 1851
Copromorphidae
Cosmopterigidae Heinemann & Wocke, 1876
Cossidae Leach, 1815
Crambidae Latreille, 1810	Pyralidae
Crinopterygidae Spuler, 1898
Cyclotornidae
Dalceridae
Doidae Donahue & Brown, 1987	Arctiidae
Douglasiidae Heinemann & Wocke, 1876
Drepanidae Boisduval, 1828
Dudgeoneidae
Elachistidae Bruand, 1851
Endromidae Boisduval, 1828
Epermeniidae Spuler, 1910
Epicopeiidae
Epipyropidae Dyar, 1903
Eriocottidae Spuler, 1898	Incurvariidae
Eriocraniidae Tutt, 1899
Ethmiidae Busck, 1909	Elachistidae
Eupterotidae
Galacticidae	Plutellidae
Gelechiidae Stainton, 1854
Geometridae Leach, 1815
Glyphipterigidae Stainton, 1854
Gracillariidae Stainton, 1854
Hedylidae	Geometridae
Heliodinidae Heinemann & Wocke, 1876
Heliozelidae Heinemann & Wocke, 1877
Hepialidae Stephens, 1829
Hesperiidae Latreille, 1809
Heterobathmiidae	Micropterigidae
Heterogynidae Herrich-Schäffer, 1846
Himantopteridae
Holcopogonidae Gozmany, 1967	Autostichidae
Hyblaeidae
Immidae Heppner, 1977	Glyphipterigidae
Incurvariidae Spuler, 1898
Lacturidae	Yponomeutidae
Lasiocampidae Harris, 1841
Lecithoceridae Le Marchand, 1947	Gelechiidae
Lemoniidae Dyar, 1896
Limacodidae Duponchel, 1845
Lophocoronidae Common, 1973
Lycaenidae Leach, 1815
Lymantriidae Hampson, 1893
Lyonetiidae Stainton, 1854
Lypusidae Heinemann, 1870	Tineidae or Psychidae or Yponomeutidae
Megalopygidae
Metachandidae Meyrick, 1911	Oecophoridae or Gelechiidae
Micropterigidae Herrich-Schäffer, 1855
Mimallonidae
Mirinidae	Bombycidae
Mnesarchaeidae
Momphidae Herrich-Schäffer, 1857	Coleophoridae
Neopseustidae
Neotheoridae Kristensen, 1978.
Nepticulidae Stainton, 1854
Noctuidae Latreille, 1809
Nolidae Hampson, 1894	Noctuidae
Notodontidae Stephens, 1829
Nymphalidae Swainson, 1827
Oecophoridae Bruand, 1851
Oenosandridae Miller, 1991	Notodontidae (Thaumatopoeidae)
Opostegidae Meyrick, 1893
Palaeosetidae
Palaephatidae	Tineidae
Pantheidae Smith, 1898	Noctuidae
Papilionidae Latreille, 1802
Pieridae Duponchel, 1835
Plutellidae Guenee, 1845	Yponomeutidae
Prodoxidae Riley, 1881
Prototheoridae
Psychidae Boisduval, 1828
Pterolonchidae Meyrick, 1918	Coleophoridae
Pterophoridae Zeller, 1841
Pyralidae Latreille, 1802
Riodinidae Grote, 1895	Lycaenidae
Roeslerstammiidae Bruand, 1850
Saturniidae Boisduval, 1837
Schreckensteiniidae Fletcher, 1929
Scythrididae Rebel, 1901
Sematuridae
Sesiidae Boisduval, 1828
Simaethistidae	Pyralidae
Somabrachyidae Hampson, 1920	Megalopygidae
Sphingidae Latreille, 1802
Symmocidae Gozmany, 1957	Autostichidae
Thyrididae Herrich-Schäffer, 1846
Tineidae Latreille, 1810
Tineodidae Meyrick, 1885
Tischeriidae Spuler, 1898
Tortricidae Latreille, 1802
Uraniidae
Urodidae Kyrki, 1984
Whalleyanidae	Thyrididae
Yponomeutidae Stephens, 1829
Ypsolophidae Guenee, 1845	Yponomeutidae
Zygaenidae Latreille, 1809

List of relegated families

The following groups have been ranked as families in the fairly recent past, and the family names are still likely to be met with in books and on the internet. This list shows where the supposed families are now classified.

'Family' Now included in Agaristidae Noctuidae Amphisbatidae Oecophoridae Apatelodidae Bombycidae Apoprogonidae Sematuridae Argyresthiidae Yponomeutidae Autostichidae Oecophoridae Blastodacnidae Agonoxenidae Cercophanidae Saturniidae Chimbachidae Oecophoridae Chrysopolomidae Limacodidae Cocytiidae Noctuidae Ctenuchidae Arctiidae Cyclidiidae Drepanidae Cycnodiidae Elachistidae Danaidae Nymphalidae Deoclonidae Gelechiidae Depressariidae Oecophoridae Deuterotineidae Eriocottidae

'Family' Now included in Dilobidae Noctuidae Dioptidae Notodontidae Epiplemidae Uraniidae Glyphidoceridae Symmocidae Heliconiidae Nymphalidae Hypertrophidae Oecophoridae Hypsidae Noctuidae Lathrotelidae Crambidae Libytheidae Nymphalidae Manidiidae Sematuridae Megathymidae Hesperiidae Metarbelidae Cossidae Oinophilidae Tineidae Olethreutidae Tortricidae Oxytenidae Saturniidae Parnassiidae Papilionidae Peleopodidae Oecophoridae

'Family' Now included in Pericopidae Arctiidae Phaloniidae Tortricidae Phyllocnistidae Gracillariidae Pseudarbelidae Psychidae Pterothysanidae Callidulidae Pyromorphidae Zygaenidae Ratardidae Cossidae Satyridae Nymphalidae Schistonoeidae Gelechiidae Stathmopodidae Oecophoridae Stenomidae Oecophoridae Strepsimanidae Noctuidae Thaumetopoeidae Notodontidae Thyatiridae Drepanidae Thyretidae Arctiidae Walshiidae Cosmopterigidae Xyloryctidae Oecophoridae

Classification according to Fauna Europaea

Classification of European Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Family:	Subfamily:
Acanthopteroctetoidea	Acanthopteroctetidae
Alucitoidea	Alucitidae
Axioidea	Axiidae
Bombycoidea	Brahmaeidae
	Endromidae
	Lemoniidae
	Mirinidae
	Saturniidae	Agliinae
		Saturniinae
	Sphingidae	Macroglossinae
		Smerinthinae
		Sphinginae
Choreutoidea	Choreutidae	Choreutinae
		Millierinae
Copromorphoidea	Carposinidae
Cossoidea	Cossidae	Cossinae
		Zeuzerinae
Drepanoidea	Drepanidae	Drepaninae
		Thyatirinae
Epermenioidea	Epermeniidae	Epermeniinae
		Ochromolopinae
Eriocranioidea	Eriocraniidae
Galacticoidea	Galacticidae
Gelechioidea	Agonoxenidae
	Amphisbatidae	Amphisbatinae
	Autostichidae	Autostichinae
		Holcopogoninae
		Symmocinae
	Batrachedridae
	Blastobasidae
	Chimabachidae
	Coleophoridae
	Cosmopterigidae	Antequerinae
		Chrysopeleiinae
		Cosmopteriginae
	Deoclonidae
	Depressariidae	Cryptolechiinae
		Depressariinae
	Elachistidae
	Ethmiidae
	Gelechiidae	Dichomeridinae
		Gelechiinae
		Pexicopiinae
	Lecithoceridae	Ceuthomadarinae
		Lecithocerinae
		Oditinae
	Momphidae
	Oecophoridae	Deuterogoniinae
		Oecophorinae
	Pterolonchidae
	Schistonoeidae
	Scythrididae
	Stathmopodidae
Geometroidea	Geometridae	Alsophilinae
		Archiearinae
		Desmobathrinae
		Ennominae
		Geometrinae
		Larentiinae
		Orthostixinae
		Sterrhinae
	Uraniidae	Epipleminae
Gracillarioidea	Bucculatricidae
	Douglasiidae
	Gracillariidae	Gracillariinae
		Lithocolletinae
		Phyllocnistinae
	Roeslerstammiidae
Hepialoidea	Hepialidae
Hesperioidea	Hesperiidae	Hesperiinae
		Heteropterinae
		Pyrginae
Incurvarioidea	Adelidae	Adelinae
		Nematopogoninae
	Crinopterygidae
	Heliozelidae
	Incurvariidae
	Prodoxidae
Lasiocampoidea	Lasiocampidae	Chondrosteginae
		Lasiocampinae
		Malacosominae
		Pinarinae
		Poecilocampinae
Micropterigoidea	Micropterigidae
Nepticuloidea	Nepticulidae	Nepticulinae
	Opostegidae	Oposteginae
		Opostegoidinae
Noctuoidea	Arctiidae	Arctiinae
		Lithosiinae
		Syntominae
	Lymantriidae	Arctorninae
		Calliterinae
		Lymantrinae
		Nygmininae
		Orgyinae
	Noctuidae	Acontiinae
		Acronictinae
		Aedeiinae
		Amphipyrinae
		Bagisarinae
		Bryophilinae
		Calpinae
		Catocalinae
		Condicinae
		Cuculliinae
		Dilobinae
		Eublemminae
		Eustrotiinae
		Euteliinae
		Hadeninae
		Heliothinae
		Herminiinae
		Hypeninae
		Micronoctuinae
		Noctuinae
		Pantheinae
		Plusiinae
		Raphiinae
		Rivulinae
		Strepsimaninae
		Tytinae
	Nolidae	Chloephorinae
		Eariadinae
		Nolinae
	Notodontidae	Notodontinae
		Phalerinae
		Ptilodoninae
		Pygaerinae
		Stauropinae
	Thaumetopoeidae	Thaumetopoeinae
Papilionoidea	Lycaenidae	Lycaeninae
		Riodininae
	Nymphalidae	Apaturinae
		Charaxinae
		Danainae
		Heliconiinae
		Libytheinae
		Limenitidinae
		Melitaeinae
		Nymphalinae
		Satyrinae
	Papilionidae	Papilioninae
		Parnassiinae
	Pieridae	Coliadinae
		Dismorphiinae
		Pierinae
Pterophoroidea	Pterophoridae	Agdistinae
		Pterophorinae
Pyraloidea	Crambidae	Acentropinae
		Cathariinae
		Crambinae
		Cybalomiinae
		Evergestinae
		Glaphyriinae
		Odontiinae
		Pyraustinae
		Schoenobiinae
		Scopariinae
		Spilomelinae
	Pyralidae	Epipaschiinae
		Galleriinae
		Phycitinae
		Pyralinae
Schreckensteinioidea	Schreckensteiniidae
Sesioidea	Brachodidae
	Castniidae
	Sesiidae	Sesiinae
		Tinthiinae
Thyridoidea	Thyrididae
Tineoidea	Eriocottidae
	Lypusidae
	Psychidae	Epichnopteryginae
		Naryciinae
		Oiketicinae
		Placodominae
		Psychinae
		Taleporiinae
		Typhoniinae
	Tineidae	Dryadaulinae
		Euplocaminae
		Hapsiferinae
		Hieroxestinae
		Meessiinae
		Myrmecozelinae
		Nemapogoninae
		Perissomasticinae
		Scardiinae
		Setomorphinae
		Stathmopolitinae
		Teichobiinae
		Tineinae
Tischerioidea	Tischeriidae
Tortricoidea	Tortricidae	Chlidanotinae
		Olethreutinae
		Tortricinae
Urodoidea	Urodidae
Yponomeutoidea	Acrolepiidae
	Bedelliidae
	Glyphipterigidae	Glyphipteriginae
		Orthoteliinae
	Heliodinidae
	Lyonetiidae	Cemiostominae
		Lyonetiinae
	Plutellidae
	Yponomeutidae	Argyresthiinae
		Praydinae
		Scythropiinae
		Yponomeutinae
	Ypsolophidae	Ochsenheimeriinae
		Ypsolophinae
Zygaenoidea	Epipyropidae
	Heterogynidae
	Limacodidae
	Somabrachyidae
	Zygaenidae	Chalcosiinae
		Procridinae
		Zygaeninae

The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidoptera under GFDL