Lepidoptera or lepidopterans is an order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organisms, making it the second largest insect order with 126 families and 46 superfamilies, and one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world.
Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is paraphyletic with respect to butterflies and neither subordinate taxon is used in modern classifications. Moths make up the vast majority of the order. There are approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of which have yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, although there are also crepuscular and diurnal species.
The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in Hertfordshire.
Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy places the family in the superfamily Papilionoidea, the butterflies. They are named for their quick, darting flight habits. Most have their antenna tips modified into narrow, hook-like projections. Moreover, skippers mostly lack wing-coupling structure available in most moths. More than 3500 species of skippers are recognized, and they occur worldwide, but with the greatest diversity in the Neotropical regions of Central and South America.
Henry Bernard Davis Kettlewell was a British geneticist, lepidopterist and medical doctor, who performed research on the influence of industrial melanism on peppered moth coloration, showing why moths are darker in polluted areas. This experiment is cited as a classic demonstration of natural selection in action. After live video record of the experiment with Niko Tinbergen, Sewall Wright called the study as "the clearest case in which a conspicuous evolutionary process has actually been observed."
Crambidae comprises the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, with the nominal subfamily Crambinae taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies include brightly coloured and patterned insects that rest in wing-spread attitudes.
The Hepialidae are a family of insects in the lepidopteran order. Moths of this family are often referred to as swift moths or ghost moths.
Scythrididae is a family of small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. The family is sometimes included in the Xyloryctidae as a subfamily Scythridinae, but the Xyloryctidae themselves have sometimes been included in the Oecophoridae as subfamily. Scythrididae adults are smallish to mid-sized moths, which when at rest appear teardrop-shaped.
Agathiphaga is a genus of moths, known as kauri moths. and is the only living genus in the family Agathiphagidae. This caddisfly-like lineage of primitive moths was first reported by Lionel Jack Dumbleton in 1952, as a new genus of Micropterigidae.
Leonard Hugh Newman, was a British entomologist, author and broadcaster. He wrote many popular books on insects, especially butterflies and moths. With Peter Scott and James Fisher, he was a resident member of the team who presented "Nature Parliament" on BBC radio's Children's Hour in the 1950s. He ran a butterfly farm in Kent, supplying among others Sir Winston Churchill, who bought many butterflies for his house at Chartwell. A collection of Newman's entomological photographs is held by the library of the Natural History Museum in London
Epeiromulona is a genus of moths in the subfamily Arctiinae.
Mulona is a genus of moths in the subfamily Arctiinae. The genus was erected by Francis Walker in 1866.
Norman Denbigh Riley CBE was a British entomologist with a special interest in the Lepidoptera, and in particular the Lycaenidae. For many years he was keeper of entomology at the British Museum.
Xyloryctidae is a family of moths contained within the superfamily Gelechioidea described by Edward Meyrick in 1890. Most genera are found in the Indo-Australian region. While many of these moths are tiny, some members of the family grow to a wingspan of up to 66 mm, making them giants among the micromoths.
Epeiromulona biloba is a moth of the subfamily Arctiinae. It was described by William D. Field in 1952. It is found in Panama and Colombia.
Epeiromulona hamata is a moth of the subfamily Arctiinae. It was described by William D. Field in 1952. It is found in Trinidad, northern South America and Brazil.
Syncopacma polychromella is a moth of the family Gelechiidae, it was described by Hans Rebel in 1902.
Jerrold Meinwald was an American chemist known for his work on chemical ecology, a field he co-founded with his colleague and friend Thomas Eisner. He was a Goldwin Smith Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Cornell University. He was author or co-author of well over 400 scientific articles. His interest in chemistry was sparked by fireworks done with his friend Michael Cava when they were still in junior high school. Meinwald was also a music aficionado and studied flute with Marcel Moyse – the world's greatest flutist of his time.
Several genera of the Lithosiini tribe of lichen moths are placed as incertae sedis due to the uncertainty of their phylogenetic relationships within the tribe.
A MONA number, or Hodges number after Ronald W. Hodges, is part of a numbering system for North American moths found north of Mexico in the Continental United States and Canada, as well as the island of Greenland. Introduced in 1983 by Hodges through the publication of Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico, the system began an ongoing numeration process in order to compile a list of the over 12,000 moths of North America north of Mexico. The system numbers moths within the same family close together for identification purposes. For example, the species Epimartyria auricrinella begins the numbering system at 0001 while Epimartyria pardella is numbered 0002.
