Obtectomera Explained

The Obtectomera is a clade of macro-moths and butterflies, comprising over 100,000 species in at least 12 superfamilies.^{[1] [2]}

Taxonomy

The Obtectomera includes the following 12 superfamilies:^[1]

• Whalleyanoidea Minet, 1991
• Thyridoidea Herrich-Schäffer, 1846 – picture-winged leaf moths
• Hyblaeoidea Hampson, 1903 – teak moths
• Calliduloidea Moore, 1877 – Old World butterfly-moths
• Papilionoidea Latreille, 1802 – true butterflies
• Pyraloidea Latreille, 1809 – pyraloid moths
• Mimallonoidea Burmeister, 1878 – sack bearers (sometimes included Macroheterocera^[2])
• Macroheterocera Chapman, 1893
  • Drepanoidea Boisduval, 1828 – drepanids
  • Noctuoidea Latreille, 1809 – owlet moths
  • Geometroidea Leach, 1815 – inchworms
  • Lasiocampoidea Harris, 1841 – lappet moths
  • Bombycoidea Latreille, 1802 – bombycoid moths

Some other superfamilies are sometimes included:^[2]

• Pterophoroidea Latreille, 1802 – plume moths
• Alucitoidea Leach, 1815 – many-plume moths
• Copromorphoidea [=Carposinoidea<ref name=vanNieukerken2011/>] Walsingham, 1897 – fruitworm moths
• Epermenioidea Spuler, 1910 – fringe-tufted moths
• Gelechioidea Stainton, 1854 – case-bearers, twirler moths, curved-horn moths, etc.

The macroheteroceran superfamilies were previously place in the Macrolepidoptera, but recent molecular studies have failed to recover the Macrolepidoptera as a monophyletic group.^{[1] [2]} The latter grouping also included true butterflies (Papilionoidea), New World butterfly-moths (Hedylidae), Old World butterfly-moths (Calliduloidea), and European gold moths (Axioidea).

Notes and References

1. van Nieukerken. Erik J. . Lauri Kaila . Ian J. Kitching . Niels P. Kristensen . David C. Lees . Joël Minet . Charles Mitter . Marko Mutanen . Jerome C. Regier . Thomas J. Simonsen . Niklas Wahlberg . Shen-Horn Yen . Reza Zahiri . David Adamski . Joaquin Baixeras . Daniel Bartsch . Bengt Å. Bengtsson . John W. Brown . Sibyl Rae Bucheli . Donald R. Davis . Jurate De Prins . Willy De Prins . Marc E. Epstein . Patricia Gentili-Poole . . Peter Hättenschwiler . Axel Hausmann . Jeremy D. Holloway . Axel Kallies . Ole Karsholt. Akito Y. Kawahara . Akito Y. Kawahara . Sjaak (J.C.) Koster . Mikhail V. Kozlov . J. Donald Lafontaine . Gerardo Lamas . Jean-François Landry . Sangmi Lee . Matthias Nuss . Kyu-Tek Park . Carla Penz . Jadranka Rota . Alexander Schintlmeister . B. Christian Schmidt . Jae-Cheon Sohn . . Gerhard M. Tarmann . Andrew D. Warren . Susan Weller . Roman V. Yakovlev . Vadim V. Zolotuhin . Andreas Zwick . Order Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758. Zootaxa. 23 December 2011. 3148. Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness. 212–221. Zhi-Qiang. Zhang. Zootaxa.
2. Mitter. Charles. Davis. Donald R.. Cummings. Michael P.. Phylogeny and Evolution of Lepidoptera. Annual Review of Entomology. 62. 1. 2017. 265–283. 0066-4170. 10.1146/annurev-ento-031616-035125. free.