The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other families of the Noctuoidea. It was considered the largest family in Lepidoptera for a long time, but after regrouping Lymantriinae, Catocalinae and Calpinae within the family Erebidae, the latter holds this title now. Currently, Noctuidae is the second largest family in Noctuoidea, with about 1,089 genera and 11,772 species. This classification is still contingent, as more changes continue to appear between Noctuidae and Erebidae.
Noctuoidea is the superfamily of noctuid or "owlet" moths, and has more than 70,000 described species, the largest number of any Lepidopteran superfamily. Its classification has not yet reached a satisfactory or stable state. Since the end of the 20th century, increasing availability of molecular phylogenetic data for this hugely successful radiation has led to several competing proposals for a taxonomic arrangement that correctly represents the relationships between the major lineages.
Amphipyrinae is a subfamily of owlet moths in the family Noctuidae. There are more than 50 genera and 210 described species in Amphipyrinae, although the classifications are likely to change over time.
Catocala junctura, the joined underwing or Stretch's underwing, is a moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1858. It is found throughout temperate North America, ranging from New York and Pennsylvania west to Montana, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arizona, and into Texas, and north to southern Illinois, extreme southern Alberta and Saskatchewan; it has also been recorded west of the Rocky Mountains from California and south-eastern British Columbia. It is typically found near water, where the food plants of its caterpillar larvae grow plentifully.
Gondysia consobrina, the consobrina darkwing moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found in the US, from North Carolina to Louisiana. Specimens have been recorded from all of the south-eastern states in the range except Alabama and Tennessee.
Stephens' gem or the bilobed looper is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is widely distributed from the southern parts of the United States, south through Central America and South America to Argentina. As a seasonal migrant it occurs even farther north into the northern parts of the United States and southern Canada. Here it usually produces one or two generations each summer, but rarely survives the winter this far north. It also occurs in the Hawaiian Islands but it is unknown if the species occurs there naturally or was introduced. It has also been recorded in Great Britain and Ireland, where it is either a rare migrant or introduced by travel on ships crossing the Atlantic.
Cerastis fishii is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in eastern North America from Newfoundland to southern Ontario in Canada. In the United States, it is found from western Maine to Ohio, Michigan, and northern Wisconsin, then south to North Carolina. It has also been recorded from Tennessee.
The sigmoid dart is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in eastern North America species. In southern Canada it is found from Ontario to central Saskatchewan, and in the United States from Maine to Minnesota, south to western Maryland, Ohio, and western Kentucky. It has recently been recorded from North Carolina and Tennessee.
Pseudohermonassa bicarnea, the pink-spotted dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found in eastern North America, and as far west as south-central Saskatchewan and central North Dakota, south to western North Carolina. It has recently been recorded from Tennessee.
Xestia normaniana, or Norman's dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1874. It is found in North America from Nova Scotia across southern and central Canada to Alberta. In the eastern United States it ranges from Maine to eastern Minnesota, and south along the Appalachians to western North Carolina. It has recently been recorded from Tennessee.
Allagrapha aerea, the unspotted looper moth or copper looper moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1803. It is found in eastern North America from southern Ontario to the Florida Panhandle and west to western Nebraska.
Polychrysia morigera, the disjunct looper, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Henry Edwards in 1886. In the east of North America, it is found in the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio river valleys from Pennsylvania to Tennessee. In the Rocky Mountains it is found from Montana to Colorado and on the west coast it occurs from Oregon to northern California. It is the rarest of the North American Plusiinae species.
Autographa buraetica is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in north and north-eastern Germany, Scandinavia, Poland, Russia, Mongolia, Siberia, the Ussuri region, Korea and Japan. It has recently been recorded from Austria. In North America, it is found in Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and British Columbia.
Heliothinae is a small, cosmopolitan subfamily of moths in the family Noctuidae, with about 400 described species worldwide. It includes a number of economically significant agricultural pest species, such as Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa zea.
Lasionycta skraelingia is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It has a Holarctic distribution, occurring from Scandinavia to north-western North America. In North America this species is known from three specimens from Windy Pass, Ogilvie Mountains, Yukon.
The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings (Catocala); litter moths (Herminiinae); tiger, lichen, and wasp moths (Arctiinae); tussock moths (Lymantriinae), including the arctic woolly bear moth ; fruit-piercing moths ; micronoctuoid moths (Micronoctuini); snout moths (Hypeninae); and zales, though many of these common names can also refer to moths outside the Erebidae. Some of the erebid moths are called owlets.
Spragueia apicalis, the yellow spragueia, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1868. It is also found in North America, Central America, Cuba and Peru.
Metalectra quadrisignata, the four-spotted fungus moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Quebec, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The species was described by Francis Walker in 1858.
Ponometia virginalis is a species of bird dropping moth in the family Noctuidae. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from eastern Texas to Nebraska, west to eastern Arizona in the south, and to Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming in the west.
