# Erebidae > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Erebidae > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Erebidae.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erebidae > Source revision: 1356968984 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Family of moths}} {{Automatic taxobox | taxon = Erebidae | image = Black witch moth (Ascalapha odorata).JPG | image_caption = Black witch moth
''[Ascalapha odorata](/source/Ascalapha_odorata)'', [Brazil](/source/Brazil) |authority= ([Leach](/source/William_Elford_Leach), 1815) }} [[File:Erebid moth (Eulepidotis affinis).jpg|thumb|''Eulepidotis affinis'', [Panama](/source/Panama)]] [[File:Arge Moth 3779.11.17.06w.wiki.jpg|thumb|''[Apantesis arge](/source/Apantesis_arge)'' caterpillar (Arctiinae)]] [[File:Halysidota tessellaris cocoon.jpg|thumb|''[Halysidota tessellaris](/source/Halysidota_tessellaris)'', cocoon]] The '''Erebidae''' are a [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) of [moth](/source/moth)s in the superfamily [Noctuoidea](/source/Noctuoidea). The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known [macromoth](/source/macromoth) groups. The family includes the underwings (''[Catocala](/source/Catocala)''); litter moths ([Herminiinae](/source/Herminiinae)); tiger, lichen, footman and wasp moths ([Arctiinae](/source/Arctiinae_(erebid_moths))); tussock moths ([Lymantriinae](/source/Lymantriinae)), including the arctic woolly bear moth (''[Gynaephora groenlandica](/source/Gynaephora_groenlandica)'');{{Cite journal|last1=Kukal|first1=Olga|last2=Dawson|first2=Todd E.|date=1989-06-01|title=Temperature and food quality influences feeding behavior, assimilation efficiency and growth rate of arctic woolly-bear caterpillars|journal=Oecologia|language=en|volume=79|issue=4|pages=526–532|doi=10.1007/BF00378671|pmid=28313488|bibcode=1989Oecol..79..526K |issn=0029-8549}} fruit-piercing moths ([Calpinae](/source/Calpinae) and others); micronoctuoid moths ([Micronoctuini](/source/Micronoctuini)); snout moths ([Hypeninae](/source/Hypeninae)); and [zale](/source/zale_(moth))s, though many of these common names can also refer to moths outside the Erebidae (for example, [crambid snout moths](/source/Crambidae)). Some of the erebid moths are called owlets. The sizes of the adults range from among the largest of all moths (around {{convert|12|in|0|abbr=on}} wingspan in the [white witch](/source/Thysania_agrippina)) to the smallest of the [macromoth](/source/macromoth)s ({{convert|0.25|in|0|abbr=on}} wingspan in some of the [Micronoctuini](/source/Micronoctuini)). The coloration of the adults spans the full range of dull, drab, and camouflaged (e.g., ''[Zale lunifera](/source/Zale_lunifera)'' and [litter moth](/source/litter_moth)s) to vivid, contrasting, and colorful (e.g., [Aganainae](/source/Aganainae) and [tiger moths](/source/Arctiinae_(erebid_moths))). The moths are found on all continents except Antarctica. ==Subfamilies== {{div col|colwidth=20em}} *[Aganainae](/source/Aganainae) *[Anobinae](/source/Anobinae) *[Arctiinae](/source/Arctiinae) – tiger, lichen, and wasp moths *[Boletobiinae](/source/Boletobiinae) *[Calpinae](/source/Calpinae) – piercing moths *[Erebinae](/source/Erebinae) – underwings and kin *[Eulepidotinae](/source/Eulepidotinae) *[Herminiinae](/source/Herminiinae) – litter moths *[Hypeninae](/source/Hypeninae) – snout moths *[Hypenodinae](/source/Hypenodinae) – includes the [micronoctuoids](/source/Micronoctuini) *[Hypocalinae](/source/Hypocalinae) *[Lymantriinae](/source/Lymantriinae) – tussock moths *[Pangraptinae](/source/Pangraptinae) *[Rivulinae](/source/Rivulinae) *[Scolecocampinae](/source/Scolecocampinae) *[Scoliopteryginae](/source/Scoliopteryginae) – piercing moths *[Tinoliinae](/source/Tinoliinae) *[Toxocampinae](/source/Toxocampinae) {{div col end}} == Description == Adult moths of Erebidae have quadrifid forewings and usually quadrifine hindwings, meaning that each wing includes a cubital vein that splits into four (explained further in the Classification section). The tribe Micronoctuini instead has bifine hindwings (meaning this same vein splits into two). Aside from this, adult Erebidae usually have an unscaled clypeofrons and broad forewings, and the hindwings often have patterns. Scoliopteryginae, Calpinae and some Erebinae have modified [proboscises](/source/Proboscis) to pierce fruit skins. Lymantriinae and some [Arctiina](/source/Arctiina) (Arctiinae) instead have a highly reduced proboscis. The overall appearance may be colourful (e.g. Arctiinae, Aganainae) or cryptic (e.g. Herminiinae). Larvae are usually smooth in appearance, but larvae of Arctiinae (woolly bears) and Lymantriinae are hairy. Larvae of Arctiinae and Lymantriinae have fully developed prolegs, Aganainae and Herminiinae have fully developed or slightly reduced [prolegs](/source/Proleg), and prolegs in some other subfamilies are reduced or absent as an adaptation to [arboreal](/source/Arboreal_locomotion) living (semi-loopers).{{Cite web |title=Erebidae - fact sheet |url=https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/the-caterpillar-key/key/caterpillar_key/Media/Html/entities/erebidae.htm |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=keys.lucidcentral.org}} == Ecology == Adults of some Erebidae pierce fruit to suck out juices (leading them to be called "fruit-piercing moths"), and those of ''[Calyptra](/source/Calyptra_(moth))'' can also pierce mammalian skin to [suck out blood](/source/Hematophagy) (hence "vampire moths"). Larvae are mostly [herbivorous](/source/Herbivore), like most lepidopteran larvae, and different taxa prefer different plants. [Lithosiini](/source/Lithosiini) (Arctiinae) larvae are unusual in feeding on algae and lichens (hence "lichen moths"). Most Herminiinae larvae feed on dead or withered leaves (hence "litter moths"), rather than living leaves. ==Classification== Among the [Noctuoidea](/source/Noctuoidea), the Erebidae can be broadly defined by the wing characteristics of the adults with support from phylogenetic studies. The cubital forewing vein, which runs outward from the base of a wing to the [outer margin](/source/outer_margin), splits into two (bifid), three (trifid), or four (quadrifid) veins from the medial area to the outer margin. These split veins are named M2, M3, CuA1, and CuA2 in order toward the [inner margin](/source/inner_margin). A trifid forewing has either a reduced or vestigial M2 vein or the M2 vein does not connect to the cubital veins, while M2 is as thick as M3 and connects or nearly connects to M3 in a quadrifid forewing. The same splitting of the hindwing cubital vein has analogous terms bifine, trifine, and quadrifine. The Erebidae typically have quadrifid forewings and quadrifine hindwings, though the [Micronoctuini](/source/Micronoctuini) are exceptional with their bifine hindwings. Among the related families, most Erebidae are quadrifid moths like the [Euteliidae](/source/Euteliidae), [Nolidae](/source/Nolidae), and [Noctuidae](/source/Noctuidae) and unlike the trifid [Oenosandridae](/source/Oenosandridae) and [Notodontidae](/source/Notodontidae). And among the quadrifid moths, the Erebidae have quadrifine hindwings like the typical [Nolidae](/source/Nolidae) and [Euteliidae](/source/Euteliidae) and unlike the typical [Noctuidae](/source/Noctuidae).{{cite journal|last1=Zahiri|first1=Reza|title=Molecular phylogenetics of Erebidae (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea)|journal=Systematic Entomology|date=2012|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3113.2011.00607.x|display-authors=etal|volume=37|pages=102–124|doi-access=free|bibcode=2012SysEn..37..102Z }}{{cite journal|last1=Lafontaine|first1=Donald|last2=Schmidt|first2=Christian|title=Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico|journal=ZooKeys|date=19 Mar 2010|issue=40|pages=1–239|doi=10.3897/zookeys.40.414|url=https://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=2182|ref=L&S2010|doi-access=free|bibcode=2010ZooK...40....1L }}{{cite journal|last1=Zahiri|first1=Reza |display-authors=etal |title=Relationships among the basal lineages of Noctuidae (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea) based on eight gene regions|journal=Zoologica Scripta|date=2013|volume=42|issue=5|doi=10.1111/zsc.12022|pages=488–507}} [Phylogenetic](/source/Phylogenetic) studies in the present century have helped to clarify the relationships between the structurally diverse lineages within the [Noctuoidea](/source/Noctuoidea) and within the Erebidae. Morphological studies had led to a classification in which the monophyletic [Arctiinae](/source/Arctiinae_(erebid_moths)), [Lymantriinae](/source/Lymantriinae), and [Micronoctuini](/source/Micronoctuini) were treated as families, and the other erebid lineages were largely grouped within the [Noctuidae](/source/Noctuidae). Recent studies combining genetic characteristics with the morphological ones revealed that the former Noctuidae were [paraphyletic](/source/paraphyletic), and some of the lineages within the Noctuidae were more closely related to the [Arctiinae](/source/Arctiinae_(erebid_moths)) and [Lymantriinae](/source/Lymantriinae) subfamilies and the [Micronoctuini](/source/Micronoctuini) tribe than to the other lineages within the Noctuidae. The determination of these phylogenetic relationships has led to the present classification scheme in which several clades were rearranged while kept mostly intact and others were split apart. The Erebidae are one [monophyletic](/source/monophyletic) family among six in the [Noctuoidea](/source/Noctuoidea). A more strictly defined family [Noctuidae](/source/Noctuidae) is also monophyletic, but the family lacks the quadrifine moths now placed as part of the Erebidae. Some subfamilies of the Noctuidae, such as the [Herminiinae](/source/Herminiinae), were moved as a whole to Erebidae. Other subfamilies, including the [Acontiinae](/source/Acontiinae) and [Calpinae](/source/Calpinae), were each split apart. The [Arctiinae](/source/Arctiinae_(erebid_moths)) became an erebid subfamily placed next to the closely related [Herminiinae](/source/Herminiinae). The [Lymantriinae](/source/Lymantriinae) became another erebid subfamily placed near the [Pangraptinae](/source/Pangraptinae). The rank of the [Micronoctuini](/source/Micronoctuini) was changed from family to tribe to include the clade as a lineage within the [Hypenodinae](/source/Hypenodinae). The Erebidae are currently divided into 18 subfamilies, some of which are strongly supported by phylogenetic analysis and may persist through further study, while others are weakly supported and may be redefined again. == References == {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Commons}} {{Wikispecies|Erebidae}} * [http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/resources/identification/animals/large-moths/image-gallery/erebidae Images of Erebidae moths in New Zealand] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107080431/http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/resources/identification/animals/large-moths/image-gallery/erebidae |date=2015-11-07 }} * [http://bugguide.net/node/view/3063 Images of Erebidae in Bugguide.net] {{Lepidoptera}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q2068481}} Category:Erebidae Category:Moth families --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Erebidae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erebidae) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erebidae?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.