The Arctiinae are a subfamily of moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

s.

Systematics

The systematics

Systematics

Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of terrestrial life, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees...

 of the Arctiinae are in need of revision and depends significantly on a personal view of an author. In any case, Arctiinae (or Arctiidae) is a monophyletic group with a clear autapomorphic character - a presence of anal glands in females. On the other hand, this group bifurcated between Catocalinae

Catocalinae

Catocalinae is a subfamily of moth family Erebidae . Many of the species are large compared to other noctuids in temperate zones, and have brightly colored backwings....

 and Herminiinae

Herminiinae

Herminiinae is one of the smaller subfamilies of the moth family Noctuidae. They are sometimes treated as a separate family, Herminiidae.*Aristaria*Bleptina*Carteris*Chytolita*Drepanopalpia*Herminia*Hydrillodes...

. So, many specialists downgraded Arctiidae

Arctiidae

Arctiidae is a large and diverse family of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species. This family includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths , which usually have bright colours, footmen , lichen moths and wasp moths...

 to a subfamily of Erebidae

Erebidae

The Erebidae are a family of moths, most of which were formerly classified in the family Noctuidae, plus all of the former members of the families Arctiidae and Lymantriidae...

. So, Arctiinae (tiger-moths) were downgraded to a tribe level, and tribes of Arctiinae: Euchaetini

Euchaetini

The Euchaetini are a tribe of woolly bear moths in the subfamily Arctiinae from North and Central America. It was proposed for the Euchaetes clade selected by Jacobson & Weller, 2002.-Genera:* Cycnia Hübner, 1818...

, Amerilini

Amerilini

The Amerilini are a tribe of woolly bear moths in the subfamily Arctiinae. They are sometimes incorrectly merged into the Phaegopterini, but morphologically the tribe is related to Callimorphini. The elder name Rhodogastriini Kiriakoff, 1950 was based on incorrectly determined genus Rhodogastria ....

, Callimorphini

Callimorphini

The Callimorphini are a tribe of woolly bear moths in the subfamily Arctiinae. They are sometimes merged into the Arctiini as a subtribe Callimorphina. Nyctemerini and Amerilini are closely related tribes....

, Nyctemerini

Nyctemerini

The Nyctemerini are a tribe of woolly bear moths in the subfamily Arctiinae. They are sometimes merged into the related Callimorphini, but Nyctemerini is an elder name.-Genera:*Afrocoscinia*Agaltara...

, Arctiini

Arctiini

The Arctiini are a tribe of moths in the Arctiinae subfamily. Sometimes , the Arctiini are defined sensu lato, with much of the remaining Arctiinae merged here as subtribes.-Genera of Arctiini s.str...

, Micrarctiini

Micrarctiini

The Micrarctiini are a tribe of woolly bear moths in the subfamily Arctiinae. They are sometimes merged into the Arctiini as a subtribe Micrarctiina or combined with Arctiina....

, Spilosomini

Spilosomini

The Spilosomini is the largest tribe of moths in the Arctiinae subfamily. As numerous arctiine genera have not yet been assigned to a tribe, the genus list is preliminary.-Genera:*Aethalida*Acantharctia*Afraloa*Afroarctia...

 should be downgraded to subtribes. List of tribes taken from and .

Sometimes the Ctenuchinae

Ctenuchinae

The Ctenuchinae is a subfamily of moths. They are generally divided into 3 tribes Ctenuchini, Euchromiini and Syntomiini, but the systematics of the subfamily is in need of revision...

 and the Pericopinae are merged in the Arctiinae as tribe

Tribe (biology)

In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

s too.

Arctiinae incertae sedis

A considerable number of genera

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 have not been robustly assigned to a tribe yet. Some of these might even not belong in the Arctiidae

Arctiidae

Arctiidae is a large and diverse family of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species. This family includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths , which usually have bright colours, footmen , lichen moths and wasp moths...

 at all. The genera incertae sedis are:

A note by V.V. Dubatolov:

Generic composition of Arctiinae have been stated in main species catalogs of this subfamily: Nearctics (Ferguson & Opler, 2006), Neotropics (Watson & Goodger, 1986), Eurasia (Dubatolov & de Vos, 2010), Australia (Edwards, 1996), with additions and corrections by V.V. Dubatolov, Afrotropics (Goodger & Watson, 1995 with later additions and corrections by V.V.Dubatolov). Many problematic genera were placed in correct tribes or different subfamilies in these catalogs.

Some notable taxa

• Eupseudosoma involuta (Sepp, 1855)
• Halysidota leda (Druce, 1880)
  • Halysidota leda leda
  • Halysidota leda enricoi Toulgoët, 1978
• Halysidota schausi Rothschild, 1909
• Hypercompe icasia (Cramer
  Pieter Cramer
  Pieter Cramer , was a wealthy Dutch merchant in linen and Spanish wool, and an entomologist. Cramer was the director of the Zealand Society, a scientific society located in Flushing and a member of Concordia et Libertate, based in Amsterdam...
  
  , 1777)
• Opharus bimaculata (Dewitz, 1877)
• Pachydota albiceps (Walker, 1856)
• Pseudamastus alsa (Druce, 1890)
  • Pseudamastus alsa alsa
  • Pseudamastus alsa lalannei Toulgoët, 1985
• Utetheisa ornatrix (Linnaeus
  Carolus Linnaeus
  Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
  
  , 1758)
• Utetheisa pulchella
  Utetheisa pulchella
  The Crimson-speckled Flunkey is a moth of the family Arctiidae. It is found in Africa, Southern Europe, Central and Southern Asia and Australia.The wingspan is 29-42 mm....
  
  (Linnaeus
  Carolus Linnaeus
  Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
  
  , 1758)

Main species catalogs

• Dubatolov VV (2010) Tiger-moths of Eurasia (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) (Nyctemerini by Rob de Vos & Vladimir V. Dubatolov). Neue Entomologische Nachrichten 65:1-106
• Edwards ED (1996) Arctiidae. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera 4:278-286,368-370
• Ferguson DC, Opler PA (2006) Checklist of the Arctiidae (Lepidoptera: Insecta) of the continental United States and Canada. Zootaxa 1299:1-33
• Goodger DT, Watson A (1995) The Afrotropical Tiger-Moths. An illustrated catalogue, with generic diagnosis and species distribution, of the Afrotropical Arctiinae (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae). Apollo Books Aps.: Denmark, 55 pp.
• Watson A (1971) An illustrated Catalog of the Neotropic Arctiinae type in the United States National Museum (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) Part 1. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 50:1-361
• Watson A, Goodger DT (1986) Catalogue of the Neotropical Tiger-moths. Occasional Papers on Systematic Entomology 1:1-71

External links

• Arctiidae of the French Antilles. Retrieved 2007-JUN-2.