The Obtectomera is a clade of macro-moths and butterflies, comprising over 100,000 species in at least 12 superfamilies. This clade was initially defined by a pupal stage with the four anterior abdominal segments fused and immobile as the sole synapomorphy, but was later revised to include the modification of the dorsal edge of the pulvillus with a protrusion in the adult.
Taxonomy
The Obtectomera includes the following 12 superfamilies:
- Whalleyanoidea <small>Minet, 1991</small>
- Thyridoidea <small>Herrich-Schäffer, 1846</small> â picture-winged leaf moths
- Hyblaeoidea <small>Hampson, 1903</small> â teak moths
- Calliduloidea <small>Moore, 1877</small> â Old World butterfly-moths
- Papilionoidea <small>Latreille, 1802</small> â true butterflies
- Pyraloidea <small>Latreille, 1809</small> â pyraloid moths
- Mimallonoidea <small>Burmeister, 1878</small> â sack bearers (sometimes included Macroheterocera)
- Macroheterocera <small>Chapman, 1893</small>
- Drepanoidea <small>Boisduval, 1828</small> â drepanids
- Noctuoidea <small>Latreille, 1809</small> â owlet moths
- Geometroidea <small>Leach, 1815</small> â inchworms
- Lasiocampoidea <small>Harris, 1841</small> â lappet moths
- Bombycoidea <small>Latreille, 1802</small> â bombycoid moths
Some other superfamilies are sometimes included:
- Pterophoroidea <small>Latreille, 1802</small> â plume moths
- Alucitoidea <small>Leach, 1815</small> â many-plume moths
- Copromorphoidea [=Carposinoidea] <small>Walsingham, 1897</small> â fruitworm moths
- Epermenioidea <small>Spuler, 1910</small> â fringe-tufted moths
- Gelechioidea <small>Stainton, 1854</small> â 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. The latter grouping also included butterflies (Papilionoidea), and Old World butterfly-moths (Calliduloidea).
References