Sesioidea is the superfamily currently containing clearwing moths (Sesiidae

Sesiidae

The Sesiidae or clearwing moths are family of the Lepidoptera in which the wings partially have hardly any of the normal lepidopteran scales, leaving them transparent. The bodies are generally striped with yellow, red or white, sometimes very brightly, and they have simple antennae...

), castniid moths (Castniidae

Castniidae

Castniidae, or castniid moths, is a small family of moths with less than 200 species: The majority are Neotropical with some in Australia and a few in south-east Asia. These are medium-sized to very large moths, usually with drab, cryptically-marked forewings and brightly coloured hindwings. They...

) and little bear moths (Brachodidae

Brachodidae

Brachodidae is a family of day-flying moths, commonly known as little bear moths, which contains about 100 species distributed around much of the world . The relationships and status of the presently included genera are not well...

). There is evidence from head and thoracic morphology that the first two families, internally feeding in plants as caterpillars, are sisters, whilst some brachodids are known to feed on leaf surfaces (Edwards et al., 1999). Sesioidea are considered to be the sister group of Cossoidea

Cossoidea

Cossoidea is the superfamily of moths that includes carpenter moths and relatives. Like their likely sister group Sesioidea they are internal feeders and have spiny pupae with moveable segments to allow them to extrude out of their exit holes in stems and trunks during emergence of the adult .The...

http://tolweb.org/Apoditrysia which contain the also internal-feeding Goat and Leopard moths.

Sources

• Edwards, E.D., Gentili, P., Horak, M., Kristensen, N.P. and Nielsen, E.S. (1999). The cossoid/sesioid assemblage. Ch. 11, pp. 181–185 in Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.). Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches / Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Band / Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Teilband / Part 35: 491 pp. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York.
• Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders, edited by Christopher O'Toole, ISBN 1-55297-612-2, 2002