Noctuoidea is the superfamily of noctuid or "owlet" moths, and has more than 70000 described species, the largest number of for any Lepidopteran superfamily. Its classification has not yet reached a satisfactory or stable state. Since the end of the 20th century, increasing availability of molecular phylogenetic data for this hugely successful radiation has led to several competing proposals for a taxonomic arrangement that correctly represents the relationships between the major lineages. Briefly, the disputes center on the fact that in old treatments the distinctness of some groups, such as the Arctiidae or Lymantriidae, was overrated due to their characteristic appearance, while some less-studied lineages conventionally held to be Noctuidae are in fact quite distinct. This requires a rearrangement at least of the latter family. This is quite unwieldy, and various more refined treatments have been proposed in response to it. While there is general agreement on what the basal families of Noctuoidea are, the more diverse advanced group may be treated as one all-encompassing Noctuidae, two huge and two smaller, or even more than four families, which are in some cases still quite sizeable. Wikipedia [ - ]

Noctuoidea is the superfamily of noctuid or "owlet" moths, and has more than 70000 described... [ + ]