The Erebidae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known

macromoth 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 monophy ...

groups. The family includes the underwings (''

Catocala ''Catocala'' is a generally Holarctic genus of moths in the family Erebidae. The genus was erected by Franz von Paula Schrank in 1802. The moths are commonly known as underwing moths or simply underwings. These terms are sometimes used for a fe ...

''); litter moths ( Herminiinae); tiger, lichen, and wasp moths ( Arctiinae); tussock moths ( Lymantriinae), including the arctic woolly bear moth ('' Gynaephora groenlandica''); piercing moths (

Calpinae The Calpinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1840. This subfamily includes many species of moths that have a pointed and barbed proboscis adapted to piercing the skins of fruit to feed on ju ...

and others); micronoctuoid moths ( Micronoctuini); snout moths (

Hypeninae The Hypeninae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae. The taxon was first described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1851. A notable species is '' Mecistoptera griseifusa'', which lives solely on tears it drinks with its ...

); and zales, though many of these common names can also refer to moths outside the Erebidae (for example,

crambid snout moths The Crambidae are the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies includ ...

). Some of the erebid moths are called owlets. The sizes of the adults range from among the largest of all moths (> wingspan in the

black witch The erebid moth ''Ascalapha odorata'', commonly known as the black witch, is a large bat-shaped, dark-colored nocturnal moth, normally ranging from the southern United States to Brazil. ''Ascalapha odorata'' is also migratory into Canada and mos ...

) to the smallest of the

s ( wingspan in some of the Micronoctuini). The coloration of the adults spans the full range of dull, drab, and camouflaged (e.g., '' Zale lunifera'' and litter moths) to vivid, contrasting, and colorful (e.g., Aganainae and tiger moths). The moths are found on all continents except Antarctica.

Subfamilies

* Aganainae *

Anobinae The Anobinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae described by Jeremy Daniel Holloway in 2005. Common morphological characteristics of Anobine moths include a dark head and prothoracic collar, lighter color on the thorax, and either bip ...

* Arctiinae – tiger, lichen, and wasp moths * Boletobiinae *

– piercing moths *

Erebinae The Erebinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae erected by William Elford Leach in 1815. Erebine moths are found on all continents except Antarctica, but reach their greatest diversity in the tropics. While the exact number of specie ...

– underwings and kin * Eulepidotinae * Herminiinae – litter moths *

– snout moths * Hypenodinae – includes the micronoctuoids *

Hypocalinae Hypocalinae is a subfamily of moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximate ...

* Lymantriinae – tussock moths * Pangraptinae * Rivulinae *

Scolecocampinae The Scolecocampinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae. The taxon was erected by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1883. Taxonomy Moths in the subfamily typically have an enclosed, sac-like tympanal pocket, split genital claspers with "co ...

Scoliopteryginae The Scoliopteryginae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae. Larvae have distinctive, extra setae on the first through seventh abdominal segments. Many adult moths in the subfamily have a proboscis adapted to pierce fruit skin, allowin ...

– piercing moths *

Tinoliinae The Tinoliinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae. Taxonomy Phylogenetic analysis only weakly supports the subfamily as a clade. The subfamily may be significantly revised after further study. Genera *''Poeta Poeta (Spanish: ''poe ...

Toxocampinae The Toxocampinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae. Moths in the subfamily typically have a primitive form of genital claspers similar to those of some subfamilies of the Noctuidae. Taxonomy Morphological analysis previously classi ...

Classification

Among the 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 {{Short pages monitor