The Macroheterocera are a well supported clade of moths that are closely related to

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises t ...

and other macro-moths.

Taxonomy

The Macroheterocera includes the following superfamilies: * Mimallonoidea – sack bearers (variously included in basal position or excluded) * Drepanoidea – drepanids *

Noctuoidea Noctuoidea is the superfamily of noctuid (Latin "night owl") or "owlet" moths, and has more than 70,000 described species, the largest number of for any Lepidopteran superfamily. Its classification has not yet reached a satisfactory or stable ...

– owlet moths * Geometroidea – inchworms * Lasiocampoidea – lappet moths *

Bombycoidea Bombycoidea is a superfamily of moths. It contains the silk moths, emperor moths, sphinx moths The Sphingidae are a family of moths ( Lepidoptera) called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars ...

– bombycoid moths The macroheteroceran superfamilies were previously place in the

Macrolepidoptera Macrolepidoptera is a group within the insect order Lepidoptera. Traditionally used for the larger butterflies and moths as opposed to the "microlepidoptera", this group is artificial. However, it seems that by moving some taxa about, a monoph ...

, but recent molecular studies have failed to recover the Macrolepidoptera as a monophyletic group. The latter grouping also included true butterflies ( Papilionoidea), New World butterfly-moths (

Hedylidae Hedylidae, the "American moth-butterflies", is a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera, representing the superfamily Hedyloidea. They have traditionally been viewed as an extant sister group of the butterfly superfamily Papilionoidea. In 1 ...

), and Old World butterfly-moths ( Calliduloidea).

References

Moth taxonomy Obtectomera {{moth-stub