Cossoidea is the superfamily of moths that includes carpenter moths and relatives. Like their likely sister group Sesioidea they are internal feeders and have spiny

pupae A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

with moveable segments to allow them to extrude out of their exit holes in stems and trunks during emergence of the adult (Edwards ''et al.'', 1999). The

Limacodidae The Limacodidae or Eucleidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Zygaenoidea or the Cossoidea;Scoble, M.J. (1992). ''The Lepidoptera: Form, Function and Diversity.'' Oxford University Press. the placement is in dispute. They are often ca ...

are sometimes included here as a third family. But the Sesioidea, and perhaps the Zygaenoidea and/or

Tortricoidea The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genus ...

, seem to be close relatives of the Cossoidea, and the relation of these – in particular the Zygaenoidea – to the Limacodidae requires further study.

References

*Edwards, E.D., Gentili, P., Horak, M., Kristensen, N.P. and Nielsen, E.S. (1999). The cossoid/sesioid assemblage. Ch. 11, pp. 181–185 in Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.). Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches / Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Band / Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Teilband / Part 35: 491 pp. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York. *

Sources

*''Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders'', edited by Christopher O'Toole, , 2002

External links

TOL
Lepidoptera superfamilies {{Cossoidea-stub