Butterflies and Moths of the World
Classification
The classification used in the current catalogue follows Kristensen (1999), with the exception of the Gelechioidea and the Riodininae. Owing to the radically different and contentious nature of the classification of the Gelechioidea used by Hodges, in Kristensen (1999), the classification used here for the superfamily follows Nye & Fletcher (1991). The Riodinidae are treated as a family and divided into subfamilies, tribes and subtribes as appropriate following Lamas (2008).
The superfamilies, families and subfamilies listed in the table are arranged more or less in the order given in Kristensen (1999) with changes to facilitate comparison of the superfamilies, families and subfamilies (where relevant) used in Nye (1975), Fletcher (1979), Watson, Fletcher & Nye (1980), Fletcher & Nye (1982), Fletcher & Nye (1984) and Nye & Fletcher (1991). Tribes and subtribes are only included for some groups of butterflies, skippers, hawkmoths and tortricids (see below).
The catalogue currently includes 128 named families and 249 named subfamilies in 46 named superfamiles. In cases where the superfamily or family are unknown the expressions 'Superfamily unassigned' and "Family unassigned' are used respectively. Where a family is divided into subfamilies, but a genus-group name is unassigned to a subfamily the expression "Subfamily unassigned" is used.
A total of 32,165 genus-group names are included of 23,706 (c.73%) are available names and 771 (c.2%) are objective replacement names.
The classification of the moth family Sphingidae follows Kitching & Cadiou, 2000. Hawkmoths of the World. An annotated and illustrated revisionary checklist (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). The Natural History Museum, London & Comstock Publishing Associates A division of Cornell University Press. vii, 227 pp. The classification includes tribes for some subfamilies and subtribes for some tribes.
The classification of the butterflies and skippers follows Lamas, Häuser, de Jong, Nielsen, Robbins & Vane-Wright. 2004. Global standards for higher classification and family group names of the butterflies (Lepidoptera) (see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/GBIF_Butterfly_Names.pdf) updated by Gerardo Lamas (2008). (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/gbn/Lamas_Genera_04ii08.xls). The classification includes tribes for some subfamilies and subtribes for some tribes.
The classification of the moth family Tortricidae follows Gilligan, T. M., J. Baixeras, J. W. Brown & K. R. Tuck. 2012. T@RTS: Online World Catalogue of the Tortricidae (Ver. 2.0). http://www.tortricid.net/catalogue.asp. The classification includes tribes for some subfamilies.
Where a subfamily is divided into tribes but a genus-group name is unassigned to a tribe the expression 'Tribe unassigned" is used; and where a tribe is divided into subtribes but the genus-group name is unassigned to a subtribe the expression 'Subtribe unassigned' is used.
Last updated 27-January-2013 Dr B R Pitkin