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.
The ghost moth or ghost swift is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It is common throughout Europe, except for the far south-east.
The common swift is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It was previously placed in the genus Hepialus. It is a common, often abundant European species. The species was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
The yellow-tail, goldtail moth or swan moth is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johann Kaspar Füssli in 1775, and has commonly been placed within the related genus Euproctis. It is distributed throughout Europe to the Urals, then east across the Palearctic to Siberia and south to India and Sri Lanka.
The cabbage moth is primarily known as a pest that is responsible for severe crop damage of a wide variety of plant species. The common name, cabbage moth, is a misnomer as the species feeds on many fruits, vegetables, and crops in the genus Brassica. Other notable host plants include tobacco, sunflower, and tomato, making this pest species particularly economically damaging.
The orange swift or orange moth is a moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761 and was previously placed in the genus Hepialus. It is distributed throughout Europe.
The gold swift is a moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. Until recently it was placed in the genus Hepialus. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Moths of the Hepialidae are considered to be primitive moths; they do not have a proboscis and are unable to feed. The gold swift is a widespread species found in Europe and Asia, including Japan.
Abantiades latipennis, known as the Pindi moth, is a species of moth in the family Hepialidae. It may also be referred to as a swift moth or a ghost moth, as this is a common name associated with Hepialidae. Endemic to Australia and identified in 1932, it is most populous in temperate rainforest where eucalypti are prevalent, as the larvae feed primarily on the roots of these trees. Females lay eggs during flight in a scattering fashion. The larvae live for over eighteen months underground, while adult moths survive for approximately one week, as they have no mouthparts with which to feed. The moths are preyed upon by a number of predators, including bats and owls. Brown in colour overall, males are paler and the identifying silver bars of the male's wings are more prominent than those of the female's, with dark margins. Male adults are generally smaller.
Clarkeophlebia is an enigmatic and almost-unknown gelechioid moth genus. It contains a single species, Clarkeophlebia argentea, and is apparently endemic to Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas Islands of Polynesia. It was originally described as Acanthophlebia, but this name had earlier been given to a genus of prong-gilled mayflies.
Chilo suppressalis, the Asiatic rice borer or striped rice stemborer, is a moth of the family Crambidae. It is a widespread species, known from Iran, India, Sri Lanka, China, eastern Asia, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia to the Pacific.
Micrurapteryx occulta is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is recorded from across North America in the northern half of the continent, in Canada from the Maritime Provinces to British Columbia, north to northernmost Yukon. In the United States it has been found in Connecticut, Kentucky, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. The habitat consists of meadows, the edge of forests, open ponderosa pine forests, alpine meadows, the sea shore, and probably other habitats, from sea level to high elevations in the mountains, where suitable hosts occur.
The study of the genitalia of Lepidoptera is important for Lepidoptera taxonomy in addition to development, anatomy and natural history. The genitalia are complex and provide the basis for species discrimination in most families and also in family identification. The genitalia are attached onto the tenth or most distal segment of the abdomen. Lepidoptera have some of the most complex genital structures in the insect groups with a wide variety of complex spines, setae, scales and tufts in males, claspers of different shapes and different modifications of the ductus bursae in females.
Dendrolimus superans, also called the white-lined silk moth, Sakhalin silk moth, Japanese hemlock caterpillar, Siberian silk moth, Siberian moth, Siberian conifer silk moth, Siberian lasiocampid or larch caterpillar, is a moth of the family Lasiocampidae.
Aenetus ligniveren, the common splendid ghost moth, is a moth in the family Hepialidae. It is found from southern Queensland to Tasmania.
Fraus simulans, the lesser ghost moth, is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
Phymatopus japonicus is a species of moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. It was described by Hiroshi Inoue in 1982, and is known from Japan, from which its species epithet is derived. The food plant for this species is Pteridium.
Phymatopus californicus, the lupine ghost moth, is a species of moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. It was described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1868 and is known from the US state of California.
Phymatopus hectoides is a species of moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. It was described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1868, and is known from the western United States, including California, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon.
Wiseana copularis is a species of moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This moth is one of several very similar looking species within the genus Wiseana and this group are collectively referred to as "Porina" moths. In its larvae form this species consumes pasture grasses and, if numerous, is regarded as a pest by New Zealand farmers reliant on good quality pasture for their stock.
Holocacista capensis is a moth of the family Heliozelidae. It was described by van Nieukerken and Geertsema in 2015. It is found in South Africa.
