Family Uraniidae: Uraniid moths
| Diagnosis: fw with Rs4
and M1 stalked; hw notched opposite
discal cell (northern plains species); hw and fw with same color
pattern; tympanum present on 2nd abdominal segment.
Diversity: Worldwide there are four subfamilies, 90 genera, and about 700 species; North America has eight species in two subfamilies; a single species has been found in North Dakota, a second has been found within 30 km. of the eastern border. Checklist numbers: 7649- 7656, 7658. Biology: Larvae are external leaf feeders with earlier instars in a communal web. Some tropical species are large swallowtail butterfly-like moths renowned for their bright colors and migrations.
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| Further reading:
Forbes, William T. M. Uranioidea, pp. 654- 655 in, Ibid. 1923. Lepidoptera of New York and neighboring states. Part I. Primitive forms, Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces. Cornell Agric. Exp. Sta. Mem. 68: 729 pp. Minet, Joël and Malcolm J. Scoble. Chapter 17. The Drepanoid/ Geometroid assemblage, pp. 301- 320 in Kristensen, Neils P. ed. 1999. Lepidoptera, moths and butterflies. Part 35, Vol. 1 in Handbook of Zoology. Maximilian Fischer ed. Walter de Gryter, New York. 491 pp. Scoble, Malcom J. 1992. The Higher Ditrysia, Chapter 12, pp. 290- 341 in The Lepidoptera: form, function, and diversity. Oxford Univ. press. 1982. 404 pp.
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