LEPIDOPTERA
(butterflies and moths)

Subtaxon Example images Rank Featured
subtaxa		 No of
images		 No of
ID refs
AGONOXENIDAE
a family of micro-moths
Family 1 ident. refs
CATOCALINAE
a subfamily of shuttle moths
Subfamily 1 ident. refs
CTENUCHIDAE
a family of moths
Family 1 ident. refs
GLOSSATA
a suborder of moths
(Click to open)
 		Suborder 752 subtaxa 7,441 images 404 ident. refs
OPHIDERINAE
a subfamily of shuttle moths
Subfamily 1 ident. refs
PHYLLOCNISTIDAE
a family of micro-moths
Family 1 ident. refs
RHOPALOCERA
butterflies
Suborder 1 subtaxa 5 ident. refs
SPHINGOIDEA
hawk or sphinx moths
Superfamily 2 ident. refs
THAUMETOPOEIDAE
processionary moths
Family 1 ident. refs
ZEUGLOPTERA
jawed micro-moths
Female (Click to open)
 		Suborder 2 subtaxa 26 images 1 ident. refs
Lepidoptera (unidentified)
Unidentified Butterflies and Moths
(Click to open)
 		Unidentified 27 images
[Leaf-miner moths]
moths with leaf-mining larvae
(Click to open)
 		Informal 123 subtaxa 899 images 106 ident. refs
[Microlepidoptera]
micro-moths
Male (Click to open)
 		Informal 807 subtaxa 7,246 images 655 ident. refs
Taxonomic hierarchy:
OrderLEPIDOPTERA (butterflies and moths)
Division Endopterygota (bees, beetles, flies, moths and other insects with wings developing internally)
InfraclassNeoptera (bees, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other advanced insects)
SubclassPTERYGOTA (bees, beetles, dragonflies, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other winged insects)
ClassINSECTA (true insects)
SubphylumHEXAPODA (insects and other 6-legged organisms)
PhylumARTHROPODA (arthropods)
SuperphylumECDYSOZOA (skin shedders)
CladeBilateria (bilaterally symmetrical animals)
SubkingdomEUMETAZOA (metazoans)
KingdomANIMALIA (animals)
DomainEukaryota (eukaryotes)
LifeBIOTA (living things)

Identification Works

AuthorYearTitleSource
Anon. Insects & Spiders from Finland www.kolumbus.fi/hannu.j.tanner/coleoptera/
Anon. Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa www.leps.it/
Anon. What’s Flying tonight? www.suffolkmoths.org.uk/cgi-bin/flyingTonight.cgi
Anon Northumberland Moths: id tips www.northumberlandmoths.org.uk/idtips.php
Davis, B.N.K. 1991 Insects on Nettles Naturalists' Handbooks, 1, 2 edition, 68pp, The Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd
() Emmet, A.M., Langmaid, J. & Heath J. 1983 Micropterigidae to Heliozelidae (vol 1) The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol 1, 343pp, Harley Books
Gustafsson, B. Svenska fjärilar www2.nrm.se/en/svenska_fjarilar/svenska_fjarilar.html
Higgott, J. UK Lepidoptera jeffhiggott.topcities.com/lepidoptera/lepidoptera.html
Kimber, I. UK Moths ukmoths.org.uk
Lewis, C. British Lepidoptera britishlepidoptera.weebly.com/
() Meyrick, E. 1927 *** A Revised Handbook of British Lepidoptera ***(Superseded) E. W. Classey
Nippe, B 2000 Atlas der Raupen europäischer und kleinasiatischer Schmetterlinge 96pp, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil
Rackham, B. & T. Moth ids: Identifying common species using photos and simple observation of the adult moths www.bettonyb.co.uk/picture_lists.html
Savela, M. Lepidoptera and some other life forms www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/intro.html
South, R. 1961 *** The Moths of the British Isles ***(Superseded) Wayside and Woodland Series, 2 volumes, 427 & 379pp, Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.
Unger, M. Moths and butterflies of Sweden www.lepidoptera.se/en
Whitfield, J.B. & Wagner, D.L. 1991 Annotated key to the genera of Braconidae (Hymenoptera) attacking leafmining Lepidoptera in the Holarctic Region Journal of Natural History Vol 25: 733-754.
Wuilbaut, J.J. Cercle de Mycologie de Mons (Belgique): (Page perso de JJ. Wuilbaut) users.skynet.be/jjw.myco.mons

Caterpillars

Anon Illustrated Guide to British Caterpillars www.wildlifeinsight.com/guide-to-british-caterpillars/
Buckler, W. 1899 The larvae of the British butterflies and moths 9 volumes, The Ray Society, London
Fry, R. Eggs, Larvae and Pupae of Butterflies and Moths www.ukleps.org
Silvonen, K. Larvae of North-European Lepidoptera www.kolumbus.fi/silvonen/lnel/species.htm

Conifer Feeders

Clifton, J. & Wheeler, J. 2012 Conifer Moths of the British Isles: a Field Guide to Coniferous-feeding Lepidoptera Clifton & Wheeler

Flying Tonight

Anon. Fliyng tonight? www.norfolkmoths.co.uk/micros.php?flightarrivals=yes&showthumbs=yes&listmonth
Prichard, T. What’s flying tonight? www.suffolkmoths.org.uk/flyingTonight.html

Host Plants

() Kirk, W.D.J. 1992 Insects on Cabbages and Oilseed Rape Naturalists' Handbooks, 18, 66pp, The Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd

Larval Foodplants

Northumberland Moths Find moths by larval food plants www.northumberlandmoths.org.uk/foodsearch.php

Microscopy

Goodey, B. The Dissection Group www.dissectiongroup.co.uk

On Cherry Trees

Leather, S.R. & Bland, K.P. 1999 Insects on cherry trees 82pp, The Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd

On Docks

Salt, D.T. & Whittaker, J.B. 1998 Insects on dock plants 56pp, The Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd

On Thistles

Redfern, M. 1995 Insects and Thistles Naturalists' Handbooks, No 4, Second (revised) edition, 70pp, The Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd

Plant Galls

() Redfern, M. & Shirley, P. 2011 British Plant Galls AIDGAP Keys, Second edition, 432pp, Field Studies Council
() Redfern, M. & Shirley, P. 2002 *** British Plant Galls - Identification of galls on plants and fungi ***(Superseded) AIDGAP Keys, 325pp, Field Studies Council
() Stubbs, F.B. (Editor) 1986 *** Provisional Keys to British Plant Galls ***(Superseded) 95pp, British Plant Gall Society (BPGS)

Pupae

Patocka, J. & Turcani, M. 2005 Lepidoptera Pupae: Central European Species 863pp, Apollo Books

Stored Product Pests

Mound, L. (ed) 1989 Common Insects of Stored Products: a guide to their identification Economic Series, No 15, Seventh Edition edition, 68pp, British Museum (Natural History)

LEPIDOPTERA (butterflies and moths) may also be included in identification literature listed under the following higher taxa:

NBNNBN (data.nbn.org.uk) has a distribution map for LEPIDOPTERA (butterflies and moths)
BioInfoBioInfo (www.bioinfo.org.uk) has 1,210 host/parasite/foodplant and/or other relationships for LEPIDOPTERA (butterflies and moths)

Cremaster: Once the moth has emerged, the exuvium is available for examination and the cremaster is generally still intact. The more intricate cremasters are often strongly entangled in silk which is difficult to remove to examine the structure. A few minutes soaking in dilute KOH dissolves the silk. Unlike teasing it away with a needle, this does no damage but obviously cannot be applied to living pupae.

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