This site will be maintained as a companion resource to the hard copy of Moths of World, Princeton Press September 2024, and serve to provide an expanded glossary, update readers on changes to the higher classification of Lepidoptera, share important discoveries and, in the Addendum and Corrigendum, correct mistakes and shortcomings. Writing a book to a hyperdiverse, understudied taxon is a tall task, and rife with unknowns about basic taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships, life histories, and basic biology, especially of the moths from the tropics and global south. No doubt, I have made errors, overlooked important works, or have written text that is not valid given new biosystematics studies. If you have suggestions or find errors please send me an email: david.wagner@uconn.edu.

WEBSITES

African Moths:  https://www.afromoths.net/

AfroMoths: https://www.afromoths.net/

Australian Moths Online: https://www.csiro.au/en/research/animals/insects/id-resources/australian-moths-online

Barcode of Life Data System: https://boldsystems.org/

Biodiversity Heritage Library: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ (resource for uncopyrighted taxonomic literature on all life forms)

HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants: https://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/hosts

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations

Leafminers of North America: https://charleyeiseman.com/leafminers/

Lepiforum: https://lepiforum.org/

Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms: https://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/intro.html

Moth Photographers Group: https://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/

Moths of Borneo: https://www.mothsofborneo.com/part-1/

Moths of India: https://www.mothsofindia.org/node/14

Moths of Japan:  https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/moths-of-japan

Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms: https://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/intro.html

Statement on Collecting of The Lepidopterists’ Society: https://www.lepsoc.org/content/statement-collecting

UK Moths: https://ukmoths.org.uk/

BOOKS

Bernal, R. and B. Martinez. 2023. Polillas de Colombia: Guía de Campo. Wildlife Conservation Society, Colombia Program.

Chacón, I. A. and J. Montero. 2009. Mariposas de Costa Rica. Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBIO), San Jose, Costa Rica.

Common, I. F. B. 1990. Moths of Australia. Melbourne University Publishing, Carlton, Victoria.

Gandy, M. 2016. Moth. Reaktion Books, London.

Inoue H., S. Sugi, H. Kuroko, S. Moriuti, A. Kawabe, and M. Owada M. Moths of Japan. Vol. 1 and 2. Kodansha, Tokyo. (In Japanese.)

Kristensen, N. P. (ed.) 1998. Lepidoptera: Moths and butterflies 1. Handbuch der Zoologie/Handbook of Zoology IV/35(1999): 51–63. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin & New York.

Lees, D. and A. Zilli. 2021. Moths – Their Biology, Diversity and Evolution. Natural History Museum, London.

Manley, C. 2021. British and Irish Moths: Third Edition: A Photographic Guide (Bloomsbury Naturalist). Bloomsbury Naturalist. Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

Moths of Borneo (18-volume series led by Jeremy Holloway)

Moths of Thailand (seven-volume series by different author sets).

Powell, J. A. and P. A. Opler. 2009. Moths of Western North America. Berkeley University Press, Berkeley, California.

Sourakov, A. and R. W. Chadd. 2022. The Lives of Moths: A Natural History of Our Planet's Moth Life. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New jersey

Staude, H., M.  Picker, and C. Griffiths. 2023. Southern African Moths and Their Caterpillars. Pelagic Publ., London.

Wagner, D. L. Caterpillars of Eastern North America. 2005. Princeton University Press. Princeton, New Jersey.

JOURNAL ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS

Kawahara, A. Y. et al. 2019. Phylogenomics reveals the evolutionary timing and pattern of butterflies and moths. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 5, 5;116(45):22657-22663.

Mitter, C., D. R. Davis. And M. P. Cummings. 2017. Phylogeny and evolution of Lepidoptera. Annual Review of Entomology. 62:265-283.

Rota, J., V. Twort, A. Chiocchio, C. Peña, C. W. Wheat, L. Kaila, and N. Wahlberg. 2022. The unresolved phylogenomic tree of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera): Assessing the potential causes and consequences. Systematic Entomology, 47: 531-550.

van Nieukerken, E. J. et al. 2011. Order Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.), Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness. Zootaxa. 3148: 212-221.

Wagner, D. L., E. Grames, M. L. Forister, M. R. Berenbaum, and D. Stopak. 2021. Insect decline in the Anthropocene: Death by a thousand cuts. PNAS. 118 (2) e2023989118

Wagner, D. L. and A. Hoyt. 2022. On being a caterpillar: Structure, function, ecology, and behavior, pp. 11-62. In caterpillars in the middle: Tritrophic interactions in a changing world, R. Marquis and S. Koptur (eds.). Springer. New York, NY.

Aedeagus: male intromittent organ; phallus.

Aestivate: period of inactivity over summer months; reproductive functions and behaviors typically in stasis.

Androconia: male scent scales.

Angiosperm: plants that produce flowers and bear their seeds in fruits

Antenna: anteriormost sensory organ for detection of pheromones and other scents; also used for tasting and touch, as well as flight orientation.

Aposematic: boldly or warningly colored; also applicable to warning sounds.

Bet-hedging: adopting more than one strategy for survival or reproduction.

Biomass: quantity (~weight) of organisms, living and dead, in a given volume.

Brachypterous: having shortened or rudimentary wings.

Bursa copulatrix: pouch in female abdomen that receives spermatophore.

Chaetotaxy: number, development, and position of larval setae; important in identification.

Chorion: outer shell of egg or ovum.

Chrysalis: exposed pupa, free of a cocoon as seen in Pterophoridae and sterrhines (Geometridae)

Clade: lineage that includes all descendants of shared common ancestor.

Congener: member of shared genus.

Costal: along leading edge of wing.

Coxa: basal segment of insect leg.

Crochets: distal hooks on abdominal prolegs.

Crypsis: stratagem of blending into background to avoid detection.

Diapause: period of hormonally controlled developmental and or reproductive stasis.

Dicotyledonous:  belonging to dicot plant lineage, i.e., those with seeds that have two embryonic leaves.

Ditrysian: belonging to lineage of moths with two reproductive openings: one for copulation and one for egg-laying.

Diurnal: day active.

Dorsum: top side of insect.

Eclosion: point of hatching from egg or emergence of adult from pupa.

Edaphic: having to do with soil.

Entomophagous: eating other insects.

Epiphysis: flap of cuticle on proleg used to clean antenna.

Excrescences: minute integumental outgrowths (best viewed with land lens or other means of magnification)

Fauna: set of animals that occupy a region.

Feculae: excreta or caterpillar droppings; sometimes to referred to as frass.

Femur: third leg segment above “knee.”

Frenulum: spine(s) from base of hindwing that is engaged by a finger-like lobe or set of curved scales on underside of forewing to couple wings

Frontal triangle: frons or triangular area between eyes on head of caterpillar.

Ganglion:

semi-autonomous neural mass that controls a segment or adjacent segments, independent of brain.

Gymnosperm: cone-bearing plants with seeds unprotected by ovary or fruit; cf. angiosperm.

Haustellum: proboscis or tongue.

Hemolymph: insect body fluid that, unlike blood, does not transport oxygen.

Macroheterocera: monophyletic that includes most larger moths but excludes butterflies, American Moth-butterflies (Hedylidae), and butterfly moths (Callidulidae); while excluded in this work, sack-bearer moth (Mimallonidae) are sometimes included. See page 164.

In copula: coupled male and female in the process of mating, which is often time extended in moths to allow for transfer of spermatophore.

Inquiline: species that lives in the nest, gall, shelter of another.

Instar: larval stage between molts; most moths have four to seven instars, with five being median; instars can differ significantly in form, duration, and habit.

Integument: outer chitinous shell of insect, shed at each molt.

Labium: third and posterior most set of mouthparts, bearing sensory palpi and spinneret; labial palps may extend forward, cover face, or extend back over thorax.

Larva: second life stage of moth; principal feeding stage.

Maxilla: second and central set of insect mouthparts; always bearing sensory setae in larva and adult; portions of maxilla form proboscis. Nocturnal: night active.

Monophagous: feeding on plants of just one or two closely related families.

Monophyletic: an evolutionary group, derived from a common ancestor and that includes all its descendant lineages.

Ocellus: small, non-image forming eye on top of head that plays roles in flight orientation and setting “biological clocks” of insects; there are two ocelli in moths that have them.

Pectinate: comb-like; where branches (or rami) of antennae for a comb; moth antennae can be uni-, bi-, tri- or quadripectinate.

Pheromone: airborne (typically), liquid, or solid chemical messenger used in communication between individuals of the same species.

Pinaculum(a): cuticular base of seta; often minute to small and round, but sometimes developed into spine or horn.

Poikilotherm: cold-blooded animal that does not maintain constant body temperature.

Polyphagous: feeding on plants belonging to more than three families.

Proboscis: haustellum or tongue.

Pupa: third stage of moth, usually in cocoon, soil, or wood—cf. chrysalis.

Rami: extensions; the short branches from individual antennal segments.

Relict: taxon or lineage that originated and diverged millions of years ago.

Retinaculum: finger-like lobe or set of curved scales on underside of forewing that holds frenulum, keeping wings joined in flight.

Scolus(i): stout, cuticular outgrowth usually bearing one to many setae.

Sensillum: seta with sensory function in touch, smell, taste, hearing, carbon dioxide detection, gravity, moisture, and other environmental stimuli.

Seta: hair-like outgrowth from integument, ranging from fine hairs to bristles.

Spermatheca: organ off of common oviduct that stores and maintains sperm.

Spinneret: spigot at tip of labium that secretes silk.

Spiracle: opening on side of body for air exchange.

Stemma(ta): lateral, image-forming eye of caterpillars; most caterpillars have six stemmata on each side of head.

Sympatric: co-occurring in same geographic area.

Tarsus: lower part of leg that contacts substrate; composed of five tarsomeres; moths have tasting sensilla on their tarsi.

Taxon (taxa): rankless group or lineage that can apply to any grouping of organisms.

Tentiform: used to refer to wing position in perched moth, for taxa in which wings descend steeply on each side of body.

Tibia(e): fourth segment of insect leg, below “knee,” usually bearing one or two sets of spurs in moths.

Trochanter: second, very small (scarcely visible) leg segment fused to base of femur.

Univoltine: life cycle with one generation per year.

Urticating: irritating to skin; can induce rash, with reaction sometimes severe.

Vestigial: structure, of reduced complexity, that has lost its ancestral function over evolutionary time.