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Home , Drepanoidea, Euteliidae, Geometroidea, Heteroneura, Lasiocampoidea, Lymantriinae

LEPIDOPTERA - and Diversity and Distribution (selected families) - - smokey moths and burnets; 1000 • Small gray or black moths with translucent wings, often with reddish thorax and other bright markings; others are very colorful • Adults are day fliers • These moths are highly resistant to cyanide kill jars • North American larvae feed on grape or Virginia creeper; includes the grapeleaf skeletonizer, the larvae feed together in a row on the same - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Heteroneura - Zygaenoidea Megalopygidae - flannel moths; ca. 250 species • Limited to the New World and mostly tropical • Adults have a dense covering of scales interspaced with curly hairs - wooly or flannel appearance; usually brown, yellowish, white, some brightly colored; adult head small with reduced mouthparts • Larvae with accessory prolegs (on segments 2 and 7, in addition to normal complement on 3-6); prolegs sucker-like without crochets • Larvae also hairy, with very painful stinging hairs • Larvae feed on palms, guava, cacao, and ferns; in the common species feeds on Rubus and LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Heteroneura - Zygaenoidea - slug moths; 1000 species • Known primarily for their larvae, many of which have very painful stinging hairs or spines on the body; saddle-back caterpillar, monkey slug • The larvae move like slugs because the prolegs are short and the crochets absent and replaced by suckers; the thoracic legs are very small • Adults are robust and hairy, often with small heads; often brightly colored; distinct posture with the body supported by extended legs, and with the abdomen often pointing up • U of MN entomology graduate Dr. Mark Epstein is an expert in this and other zygaenoids Limacodidae LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Heteroneura - - clearwing moths; 1200 species • Active, day flying moths, with transparent wings without scales except along veins; many brightly colored and resemble wasps; males and females dimorphic • Larvae bore in stems, canes, and twigs or under bark • Many economically important species, such as the tree borer, squash vine borer • Female sex pheromones have been synthesized to attract and trap males LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Heteroneura - Sesioidea - sun moths or moths; ca. 175 species • Broad winged, diurnal moths with clubbed antennae that look very much like butterflies • Forewings usually cryptic, hind wings brightly colored • Larvae feed internally on monocots such as bromeliads, palms, orchids, etc.; some occur in the soil where they feed in roots and other below ground parts of the plant • Found in tropical regions LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Heteroneura - - carpenter moths and leopard moths; ca. 700 species • Small to large, robust moths • Females may lay 1000s of • Larvae initially disperse on silk threads, then settle and bore in woody branches and trunks of many different hosts; may cause serious damage to trees; may take 1-4 years to mature LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Heteroneura - Tortricoidea - leaf roller moths; 7,000 species • Small to medium moths, with mottled brown, tan, gray coloration, some with metallic spots; wings broad and usually squared off at apex, held like a flattened roof giving an arrowhead shaped appearance • Females have large, flat oviscapts and lay flat scale-like eggs that they “fence in” with specialized scales to protect against • Larval feeding is diverse, usually within folded or rolled , but also borers in roots, seeds, stems, flowers, under bark • Many economically important - coddling moth, a of , oriental fruit moth, a serious pest of , spruce budworm, a serious outbreak species in northern forests, etc., etc. • Dr. William , Professor Emeritus (deceased), U of MN Entomology was a world authority in the group Tortricidae LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Heteroneura - Pterophoroidea - plume moths; 130 species • Common moths with the wings divided into 2-3 deep slits, but this is not the condition in all species • Have a characteristic posture - long, slender body and legs with the wings closed and held out to the side • Larvae are borers in roots, stems, etc., but also feed externally • The larvae feed on range of host plants, one species even feeds on sundew (Drosera) and a few are minor pests (artichoke, grape) LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Heteroneura - Alucitidae - many plume moths; 130 species • This small family is noteworthy for the many deep divisions in both pairs of wings of most species; cosmopolitan, but only one Nearctic species (Alucita hexadactyla) • Larvae are borers in buds, flowers, fruits, shoots or make galls; feed on Caprifoliaceae, Bignoniaceae, and Rubiaceae (in the latter family one species is a pest of coffee in Africa) LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Heteroneura - (now with as separate family) - snout and grass moths; 16,000 species • Perhaps the most diverse family of moths, with lots of new species • Adults have a pair of tympanal organs on the venter of 1st abdominal segment; their labial palps are long and project forward; forewing triangular, hind wing broad • Incredible diversity of larval habits - detritivores on fungi, dried plants and remains, herbivores on angiosperms, lichens, liverworts, ferns, predators on sternorrhynchans and other , inquilines of social including the wax moth and mammals such as those that live in the fur of sloths, aquatic species are numerous and live in standing water as well as fast flowing streams; many species associated with grasses where they feed from silken webs at the base • Many economically important species - the meal moth, Indian meal moth, Mediterranean moth in stored grain; sugarcane borer, ; melon worm; grape leaf folder; pickleworm; etc. etc. Pyralidae LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) - - tent caterpillars and lappet moths; 1,500 species • Small to very large moths with broad wings and stout hairy bodies • Larvae feed on great diversity of low growing plants, shrubs,and trees • Includes the tent caterpillars in the Malacosoma; larvae live gregariously in conspicuous silken tents; eastern tent caterpillar, M. americana; forest tent caterpillar, M. disstria • Dr. Fred Stehr, U of MN entomology graduate, studied Malacosoma ; edited most important book on immature insects LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - - Silkworm moths; 350 species • Includes most famously the silkworm moth, Bombyx mori, a native of Asia • Domesticated for 1000s of years; no longer exists in the wild • Larvae feed on mulberry • Spin silk cocoon prior to pupation made of a single thread of silk almost 1000 m long; 3000 cocoons per 1 lb silk • Sericulture practiced in China, Japan, , and Brazil LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - Bombycoidea - giant silkworm moths and royal moths; 1,500 species • Medium sized to very large, often spectacular moths, with thick bodies; wings often with tails, lobes, eye spots, clear windows, etc. • Adult antennae very plumose in males; mouthparts reduced in both sexes and adults do not feed • Female sex pheromones can be detected by males from long distance • Included luna, promethea, polyphemus, cecropia, imperial moth, royal walnut moth, io moth, buck moth, oak moths • Caterpillars large, colorful, with tubercles and spines; hickory horned devil of the royal moth; pupate in silken and leaf cocoons attached to branches or in ground without cocoon • Some also used to produce silk

LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - Bombycoidea - sphinx moths or hawk moths; 1,200 species • Medium sized to very large moths with long proboscises, sometimes longer than the length of the body • Forewings large and narrow, hind wings much smaller; very fast, strong, rapid wing beat fliers, often migratory • Attracted to large, very fragrant, white flowers that open at night; others are diurnal and may mimic and wasps; hover in front of flowers like hummingbirds • Larvae large and colorful with a spine-like projection (or a hard button- like structure) on the 8th abdominal segment - hence the common name “hornworms”; larvae often ectoparasitized by braconids • Pupate in the ground usually without a cocoon; the developing proboscis forms a pitcher-like handle off the body • Some economically important species such as the tomato hornworm, Manduca quinquemaculata, on tomato, tobacco, potato, and M. sexta on tobacco

Superfamily (6 families)

Family (4 genera, 8 species)

Family (704 genera, 3,800 species)

Family (1,760 genera, 24,569 species) (incl. Arctiidae & Lymantriidae as subfamilies)

Family (29 genera, 520 species)

Family (186 genera, 1,738 species)

Family (1,089 genera, 11,772 species) 21 LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - Noctuoidea Notodontidae - prominents and oakworms; 2,800 species • Adults generally roll the wings which make them look like sticks and have prominent backward projecting tufts of hairs on the hind margin of wings which protrude when the wings are folded at rest • Females often considerably larger than males • Larvae come in odd shapes and bright colors and have tubercles, humps, etc., others are green or otherwise cryptic; they feed on oaks ( spp.), poplar, willow and many other hardwood trees LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - Noctuoidea Noctuoidea - owlets, underwings, cutworms, deltoids; 43,000 species • Adult noctuoids have metathoracic tympanal organs and abdominal modifications that perceive ultrasound signals of echolocating bats, but also now believed to be used to perceive mating signals of conspecifics • The most diverse clade of Lepidoptera - 43,000 species and 3,800 genera! • Recently undergone many taxonomic changes, there is considerable controversy concerning its composition • Dr. Susan Weller, U of MN Entomology is an expert in the group, especially the • These are the common moths attracted to lights at night • Heavy bodied, with narrow forewings and broad hind wings; characteristic deltoid shape; usually drably colored, with light colored hind wings; but many are brightly colored • Antennae are hairlike (usually) and labial palps long; characteristic wing venation • Larvae smooth bodied or fairly and feed on leaves, but includes borers, fruit, and root feeders; many are serious crop pests LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - Noctuoidea Noctuidae/Erebidae - (continued) Important groups or genera include: • The underwing moths of the genus Catacola with very romantic and descriptive common names (see T. D. SARGENT, Legion of Night: the Underwing Moths); forewings are cryptically colored to resemble tree bark, the hind wings brightly patterned in red, yellow, orange, white, etc. • The Black Witch, odorata, one of the largest moths • The loopers, such as the and celery looper; larvae have only 3 pairs and prolegs and move like inch worms (but not related!) • The army worms in the genus , including S. frugiperda, the and the armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta on wheat and corn (larvae migrate in large numbers to new feeding hence common name) • The cutworm moths, which feed on roots and seedlings of several crop plants which they cut off at the surface of the ground • The corn earworm, zea, a serious pest of corn, feeding on the ears, but also on tomato (tomato fruitworm) and cotton bolls (cotton boll worm) • The colorful forester moths, black with white or yellow spots on wing • Etc., etc., etc!

LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - Noctuoidea Erebidae, Arctiinae - tiger moths, footman, lichen moths, wasp moths; 11,000 species • Systematics of the group is in a high state of flux and controversy; considered now to be within the Erebidae. The “old” families Ctenuchidae and Pericopidae now tribes of the subfamily Arctiinae • Small to medium sized usually brightly colored moths, many show remarkable resemblance to wasps (Ctenuchini) most remarkably in the genus • Females have eversible pheromone glands associated with the anal papillae and some arctiids have defensive glands on the prothorax that secrete foul smelling liquid • Larvae are usually hairy - “woollybears” and cocoons are made from hairs of the larvae with little or no silk • Larvae feed on lichens, algae, detritus and fungi, grasses and sedges herbaceous plants, trees and other woody plants • Many species feed on host plants that contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids that are used in defense and the synthesis of adult pheromones • A few pest species including the , cunea, a minor pest of trees

LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - Noctuoidea Erebidae, - tussock moths and gypsy moths; 2,500 species • Adults similar to noctuids but lack ocelli and the wings mostly brownish or grayish; females larger than males • Wings of some females reduced to nubs or fully developed, but non-functional • The larvae are hairy and feed on tress, where they can be serious defoliators, including the native white-marked tussock moth, leucostigma, the introduced European species the gypsy moth, dispar, and the browntail moth, chrysorrhoea (their caterpillars have stinging hairs) • The gypsy moth was introduced to US in 1868 in an attempt to use it for silk production, some escaped and became a serious pest, defoliating large tracks of hardwood forest, now as far west as Wisconsin and occasionally Minnesota tussock moths

gypsy moth larvae gypsy moth male gypsy moth female LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - Geometridae - measuringworms, loopers, geometers; 21,000 species • With Pyralidae and Noctuidae, one of the 3 largest families of Lepidoptera • These are another common group attracted to lights at night • Adults are slender bodied and delicate, often with wavy lines on the broad wings, sometimes with scalloped margins; the sexes are often colored differently; some females are apterous or brachypterous (e.g., the female fall and spring cankerworms) • Larvae have only 2 or 3 pairs of prolegs at the end of the body, move with the characteristic “inchworm” habit; larvae can hold on with their posterior prolegs and project the body up and straight out greatly resembling twigs and stems • External leaf feeders; pupate in a loose cocoon on the forest floor • Includes the spring and fall cankerworms, which can cause serious defoliation of apples and other trees as well as other important forest pests (hemlock looper, mountain mahogony looper) • Biston betularia of industrial melanism fame is a member of this family

LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - Geometroidea - 700 species • These include among the most beautiful of all Lepidoptera as well as some plain colored, geometrid like species (e.g., the 8 North American species) • This is largely a tropical group of day flying moths, including the spectacular fulgens of Central and , known for its migratory behavior (it gets into Texas) • Larvae are external leaf feeders LEPIDOPTERA - butterflies and moths Diversity and Distribution (selected families) Macrolepidoptera - - hook-tip moths and false owlet moths; 650 species • Only 5 species occur in North America, but adults of the subfamily Drepaninae have sickle-shaped apex of the forewing and are easily recognized; the others resemble noctuids • Larvae lack anal prolegs (the last pair) and feed on leaves of trees and shrubs, usually at night