MOTHS OF NICARAGUA
SPECIES LISTS BY FAMILY
Arctiidae

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GENERAL FAMILY DESCRIPTION
The Arctiidae ('Tiger Moths') are a large family of some 11,000 species worldwide, of which about 6,000 occur in the neotropics (Scoble 1992). They are characterised by their generally bright 'warning coloration' (usually orange, yellow or red) and bodily toxicity which protects them from natural predators and makes them popular with human collectors. Several species (such as Utetheisa ornatrix) are day-flying and are often mistaken by the layman as butterflies.

The family is conventionally divided into four subfamilies: the Arctiinae; the Ctenuchinae; the Pericopinae and the Lithosiinae. In the past some authorities elevated some of these into families in their own right ('Ctenuchidae' etc.). The recent cladistic revision of the Arctiidae by Jacobson & Weller (2002) has retained the Lithosiinae as a 'natural' subfamily of the Arctiidae but has relegated the former 'Pericopinae' to the status of tribe Pericopini in the subfamily Arctiinae; has split the former 'Ctenuchinae' into two tribes (the Ctenuchini and Euchromiini) within the Arctiinae and has divided the former 'Arctiinae' into three (and possibly more) tribes of the newly-constituted Arctiinae. I retain the old, artificial classification for now as it is familiar to most workers.

'SUBFAMILIES' present in Nicaragua: (click on link to go to species list for that subfamily)

  • ARCTIINAE
  • CTENUCHINAE
  • PERICOPINAE
  • LITHOSIINAE

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