Erebidae systematics: past, present, and future—progress in understanding a diverse lepidopteran lineage

Authors: ZILLI, ALBERTO - London Natural History Museum; ZASPEL, JENNIFER - Milwaukee Public Museum; ZAHIRI, REZA - Canadian National Collection Of Insects & Ottawa Plant Laboratory, Entomology; SCHMIDT, CHRISTIAN - Canadian National Collection Of Insects & Ottawa Plant Laboratory, Entomology; Goldstein, Paul; WELLER, SUSAN - University Of Nebraska; SISSON, MELISSA - Middle Georgia State University; FISHER, MAKANI - Purdue University; GALL, LAWRENCE - Yale University; HOMZIAK, NICKOLAS - University Of Florida; SIMMONS, REBECCA - University Of North Dakota; DOWDY, NICOLAS - Milwaukee Public Museum

Submitted to: Insect Systematics and Diversity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/21/2025
Publication Date: 5/3/2025
Citation: Zilli, A., Zaspel, J., Zahiri, R., Schmidt, C., Goldstein, P.Z., Weller, S., Sisson, M., Fisher, M., Gall, L., Homziak, N., Simmons, R., Dowdy, N. 2025. Erebidae systematics: past, present, and future—progress in understanding a diverse lepidopteran lineage. Insect Systematics and Diversity. 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaf018.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaf018

Interpretive Summary: This paper reviews recent progress and taxonomic status of Erebidae, the largest family of Lepidoptera with approximately 26,000 described species, and each of its 18 component subfamilies as they are currently recognized. We provide taxonomic accounts of each subfamily, its biology, nomenclatural stability, composition, and relationship to other subfamilies based on all available analyses of genomic and morphological data. This work is of interest to entomologists, biogeographers, plant-herbivore scientists, evolutionary biologists and anyone seeking to understand the diversity and identification of pests and other species in this massive group.

Technical Abstract: The taxonomic and nomenclatural history of Erebidae (Lepidoptera Noctuoidea) and the composition and relationships among the 18 currently recognized subfamilies are reviewed following Zahiri et al. (2012). Erebidae, which now encompasses the former families Arctiidae and Lymantriidae, and with over 25,000 species, is the largest family of Lepidoptera, having been resurrected following the recognition that Noctuidae was polyphyletic. Erebidae are variously known for their defensive appearances and behaviors, including their coevolutionary arms race with nocturnal predators. Although the internal phylogenetic structure and classification are well-resolved in several erebid subfamilies, most are in need of more intensive taxon and genomic sampling, and relationships among most of the subfamilies are uncertain or uncorroborated by morphological synapomorphies. Enormous biological, behavioral and phenotypic diversity encompassed within Erebidae is as evident among larvae as among adults, and with the expanded concept of Erebidae coupled with the explosion of life history information becoming available through research programs and crowd-sourced channels such as iNat, the Erebidae account for the largest family cohort of externally feeding caterpillars. Meanwhile the early adoption of DNA barcoding by lepidopterists has generated a global DNA barcode library that, combined with life history and faunistic studies, has boosted species description and revisionary work, just as the advance of museomics has enabled more rapid phylogenomic research still needed to resolve unanswered phylogenetic questions.