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A Key to the superfamilies of the Lepidoptera
with special reference to North and South Dakota
| Family
Geometridae,
Inchworms, with 21,000 described species world wide and 1,400 in North
America. These are butterfly-like moths that usually rest with the wings
outspread and consequently have the same pattern on the fore and hindwings.
The fw discal cell is 1/2 the fw length, when the hindwing is notched or
tailed, M2 is absent.
Above from left to right, top to bottom:: Macaria pustularis (Guenée), Semiothisa denticulata Grote,
Heterophleps refusaria (Walker),
Phaeoura quernaria (J. E. Smith) and Euchlaena serrata (Drury),
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| Family
Uraniidae
contains 700 species world wide in 90 genera. Nine species occur in
North America. Discal cell < 1/3 fw length; hw with Sc+R and Rs
divergent at wing base, no basal areole, and vein M2 is always
present. Most U. S. species have the hws notched opposite the discal cell,
Many tropical species possess a long tail at vein M3. Pictured at
far right: Urania leila (Linnaeus); at center and lower
Callizzia amorata Packard, habitus (top) and ventral hw (bottom).
Discal cell marked with blue, areas between vens Sc+R, Rs, M1
and M2 marked with green. Pink arrow indicates M2. |
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| Family Senaturidae,
are a small family of 40 New World species (plus one in South Africa)
similar to tropical Uraniidae without the brilliant colors and abdominal
tympana while possessing the short fw discal cell of that group. The
single southwestern U. S. species has hairy eyes and clavate antennae.
In the present key, this family will actually key out within the
Bombycoidea.
At right a Lyssa sp. |
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