There are about 12,000 types of North American moths. In comparison, there are about 825 species of
North American butterflies. The moths (mostly
nocturnal
Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatur ...
) and butterflies (mostly
diurnal) together make up the
taxonomic order
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...
.
This list is sorted by
MONA number (sometimes called a Hodges number), a numbering system for North American moths introduced by
Ronald W. Hodges, et al. in 1983 in the publication ''Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico''. The list has since been updated,
but the placement in families is outdated for some species.
Former numbers for some species are given in square brackets, for example:
* 3754
807– ''
Aethes angulatana''
This list covers America north of Mexico (effectively continental United States and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
). For a list of moths and butterflies recorded from the state of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, see
List of Lepidoptera of Hawaii.
Sublists
*
List of moths of North America (MONA 001–854.1) – Micropterigidae, Eriocraniidae, Acanthopteroctetidae, Hepialidae, Nepticulidae, Opostegidae, Tischeriidae, Incurvariidae and Prodoxidae, Adelidae, Heliozelidae and Elachistidae, Tineidae and Acrolophidae, Psychidae, Lyonetiidae, Bucculatricidae, Gracillariidae
*
List of moths of North America (MONA 855–2311) – Oecophoridae, Elachistidae, Symmocidae, Glyphidoceridae, Autostichidae, Blastobasidae, Coleophoridae and Batrachedridae, Momphidae, Cosmopterigidae, Scythrididae, Gelechiidae
*
List of moths of North America (MONA 2312–2700.1) – Copromorphoidea and Alucitidae, Epermeniidae, Yponomeutoidea, Sesiidae, Choreutidae, Cossidae
*
List of moths of North America (MONA 2701–3862) – Tortricidae
*
List of moths of North America (MONA 4618–5509) – Zygaenidae, Megalopygidae, Limacodidae and Dalceridae, Crambidae
*
List of moths of North America (MONA 5510–6088) – Pyralidae, Thyrididae, Hyblaeidae
*
List of moths of North America (MONA 6089–7648) – Pterophoridae, Drepanoidea, Geometridae,
*
List of moths of North America (MONA 7649–8321) – Uraniidae and Sematuridae, Mimallonidae, Bombycidae, Lasiocampidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Notodontidae, Arctiidae, Lymantriidae
*
List of moths of North America (MONA 8322–11233)
North American moths represent about 12,000 types of moths. In comparison, there are about 825 species of North American butterflies. The moths (mostly nocturnal) and butterflies (mostly diurnal) together make up the taxonomic order Lepidoptera ...
– Noctuidae
See also
*
List of butterflies of North America
*
List of Lepidoptera of Hawaii
*
List of moths of Canada
*
List of butterflies of Canada
References
External links
{{Wikidata property, P4758
Checklists of North American Moths