Butterflies and Moths

Order Lepidoptera

The Butterflies and Moths (Order Lepidoptera) includes 11,813 species across 112 families and 2,787 genera in our directory.

About Butterflies and Moths

Lepidoptera includes approximately 180,000 described species of butterflies and moths. Moths outnumber butterflies roughly 10:1. The monarch butterfly's eastern population has declined by more than 80% since the mid-1990s, and the western population by over 95% since the 1980s. The IUCN lists the migratory monarch as Vulnerable.

Economic Impact

Lepidoptera are critical pollinators. In Europe, grassland butterfly species have declined by almost 50% since the early 1990s. In the UK, three-quarters of butterflies are in decline. In the U.S., five butterfly species have gone extinct since 1950, with 29 listed as endangered.

Ecological Role

Butterflies and moths are essential indicators of ecosystem health. As caterpillars, they are a primary food source for birds - a single nest of blue tit chicks requires ~10,000 caterpillars. Adult moths pollinate many night-blooming plants.

Families in Lepidoptera (112)

Species in Lepidoptera (11,813)

🔬

Acropteris iphiata

Uraniidae

Acropteris iphiata is a species of moth of the family Uraniidae. It is found in Japan, China and Korea.

🔬

Adela violella

Adelidae

Adela violella is a moth of the Adelidae family. It is found in most of Europe, except Ireland, Great Britain, Fennoscandia, the Baltic region, Croatia, Greece and Portugal.

🔬

Alucita desmodactyla

Alucitidae

Alucita desmodactyla is a moth of the family Alucitidae. It is found in most of Europe, except Ireland, Great Britain, the Benelux, Portugal, Denmark, Fennoscandia, the Baltic region and most of the Balkan Peninsula. It has also been recorded from Ar

🔬

Alucita grammodactyla

Alucitidae

Alucita grammodactyla is a moth of the family Alucitidae. It is found in most of Europe, except Ireland, Great Britain, Portugal, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Slovenia and Greece. It is also present in Turkey.

🔬

Alucita huebneri

Alucitidae

Alucita huebneri is a moth of the Alucitidae family. It is found in most of Europe, except Ireland, Great Britain, the Benelux, Fennoscandia, Latvia, the Baltic region, Ukraine and Slovenia. The habitat consists of mesotrophic meadows, colline and mo

🔬

Alucita objurgatella

Alucitidae

Alucita objurgatella, the objurgatella moth, is a moth of the family Alucitidae. It is known only from the Hawaiian islands of Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii, but is considered introduced although it could also be indigenous.

🔬

Alucita palodactyla

Alucitidae

Alucita palodactyla is a moth of the family Alucitidae. It is found in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Hungary and Iran.

🔬

Alucita phricodes

Alucitidae

Alucita phricodes is a species of moth of the Alucitidae family. It is found from the Atherton Tableland in Queensland to Batemans Bay in New South Wales.

🔬

Alucita pygmaea

Alucitidae

Alucita pygmaea is a species of moth of the family Alucitidae. It is found in the northern half of Australia, as well as Fiji.

🔬

Anticla antica

Bombycidae

Anticla antica is a moth in the Bombycidae family. It was described by Francis Walker in 1855. It is found in Venezuela.

🔬

Apantesis carlotta-nais-phalerata-vittata

Erebidae

This page is for unidentifiable photos of Apantesis carlotta/phalerata/nais/vittata. These used to be the only species in the genus "Apantesis", and they present numerous ID challenges, but now that the former Grammia species are included in Apantesi

🔬

Apatelodes adrastia

Apatelodidae

Apatelodes adrastia is a moth in the family Bombycidae first described by Herbert Druce in 1887. It is found in Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama.

🔬

Apha kantonensis

Eupterotidae

Apha kantonensis is a moth in the Eupterotidae family. It was described by Mell in 1929. It is found in China, Cambodia and Vietnam.

🔬

Asaphocrita aphidiella

Blastobasidae

Asaphocrita aphidiella is a moth in the Blastobasidae family. It is found in North America, including British Columbia, Washington, California, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Maine, New Hampshire and Ohio.

🔬

Athymoris martialis

Lecithoceridae

Athymoris martialis is a moth in the family Lecithoceridae. It is found in Taiwan, Korea, southern China, and Japan.

🔬

Atteva niphocosma

Attevidae

Atteva niphocosma is a moth of the family Attevidae. It is found in the Australian states of New South Wales, Queensland and northern Western Australia.

🔬

Atteva niveigutta

Attevidae

Atteva niveigutta is a moth of the Attevidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, India (Assam), Thailand and possibly China.

🔬

Atteva wallengreni

Attevidae

Atteva wallengreni is a moth of the Attevidae family. It is found in China (Guangdong, Hainan, Hongkong and Shaanxi), Indonesia (Bali), Malaysia (Perak), Thailand and Vietnam.

🔬

Autosticha calceata

Autostichidae

Autosticha calceata is a moth in the Autostichidae family. It was described by Meyrick in 1908. It is found in Sri Lanka.

🔬

Blastobasis decolorella

Blastobasidae

Blastobasis decolorella is a moth in the family Blastobasidae. It is found on Madeira and in Portugal. Records from England and possibly also the Netherlands are based on misidentifications of Blastobasis lacticolella.

🔬

Blastobasis phycidella

Blastobasidae

Blastobasis phycidella is a moth in the family Blastobasidae. It is found in most of Europe (except Fennoscandia, Latvia, Estonia, Ireland and Iceland).

🔬

Blastobasis tanyptera

Blastobasidae

Blastobasis tanyptera is a moth of the family Blastobasidae. It is found in Australia, including northern Queensland.

🔬

Bombyx lemeepauli

Bombycidae

Bombyx lemeepauli is a species of Bombycidae in the genus Bombyx. It was described by Albert Marie Victor Lemée in 1950. It is found in Vietnam and China.

🔬

Cadmogenes literata

Plutellidae

Cadmogenes is a genus of moths of the family Plutellidae. It contains only one species, Cadmogenes literata, which is found in New Zealand.

🔬

Cauchas rufifrontella

Adelidae

Cauchas rufifrontella is a moth of the Adelidae family. It is found in most of Europe, except Ireland, Great Britain, the Benelux, the Iberian Peninsula, Switzerland, Fennoscandia, the Baltic region, Bulgaria and Ukraine.

🔬

Chlumetia transversa

Euteliidae

Chlumetia transversa, the mango shoot borer, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1863. It is a widely distributed across Indo-Australian tropical countries far east to Solomon Islands.

🔬

Choreutis achyrodes

Choreutidae

Choreutis achyrodes is a moth of the Choreutidae family. It is known from China (Guangxi, Guizhou, Taiwan), Japan (Shikoku, Kyushu, Ryukyu Islands), India (Assam) and the Oriental region.

🔬

Choreutis basalis

Choreutidae

Choreutis basalis is a species of moth of the family Choreutidae. It is found in eastern Queensland, from Cape York to Yeppoon. It is also present in New Guinea and Indonesia.

🔬

Choreutis ophiosema

Choreutidae

Choreutis ophiosema is a species of moth of the Choreutidae family. It is found in India, China, Taiwan, Amoy, the Moluccas, eastern Australia (the Northern Territory and Queensland) and Japan.

🔬

Choreutis orthogona

Choreutidae

Choreutis orthogona is a moth in the Choreutidae family. It was described by Meyrick in 1886. It is found in New Guinea.

🔬

Choreutis xanthogramma

Choreutidae

Choreutis xanthogramma is a moth in the family Choreutidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1912. It is found in Taiwan, the Philippines, New Guinea and on the Kei Islands and Ryukyu Islands.

🔬

Coleophora saponariella

Coleophoridae

Coleophora saponariella is a moth of the family Coleophoridae. It is found from Sweden to Portugal and Italy and from France to Poland and Romania.

🔬

Colla coelestis

Bombycidae

Colla coelestis is a moth in the Bombycidae family. It was described by Schaus in 1910. It is found in Costa Rica.

🔬

Colla rhodope

Bombycidae

Colla rhodope is a moth in the Bombycidae family. It was described by Drury in 1782. It is found from Mexico to Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil.

🔬

Crastolliana nina

Apatelodidae

Crastolliana nina is a species of moth in the family Apatelodidae. It is found in French Guiana, Suriname, , Guyana, Trinidad, and at low elevation on oriental side of the Andes in Colombia and Peru.

🔬

Crocanthes glycina

Lecithoceridae

Crocanthes glycina is a species of moth of the Lecithoceridae family. It is found in Australia, where it has been recorded from Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania.

🔬

Crocanthes micradelpha

Lecithoceridae

Crocanthes micradelpha is a species of moth of the Lecithoceridae family. It is found in the northern parts of Queensland in Australia.

🔬

Crocanthes perigrapta

Lecithoceridae

Crocanthes perigrapta is a moth in the Lecithoceridae family. It was described by Meyrick in 1904. It is found in Australia, where it has been recorded from Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.

🔬

Crocanthes prasinopis

Lecithoceridae

Crocanthes prasinopis is a species of moth of the Lecithoceridae family. It is found in most Australia and New Guinea.

🔬

Cryptophasa flavolineata

Xyloryctidae

Cryptophasa flavolineata is a moth in the family Xyloryctidae. It was described by Francis Walker in 1864. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Australia, where it has been recorded from New South Wales and Queensland.

🔬

Cryptophasa irrorata

Xyloryctidae

Cryptophasa irrorata is a moth in the Xyloryctidae family. It was described by Lewin in 1805. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Australia, where it has been recorded from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and South Austr

🔬

Cryptophasa pultenae

Xyloryctidae

Cryptophasa pultenae is a moth of the Xyloryctidae family. It is known in Australia from New South Wales and Queensland.

🔬

Cryptophasa rubescens

Xyloryctidae

Cryptophasa rubescens is a moth of the Xyloryctidae family. It is found in Australia, where it has been recorded from New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.

🔬

Elhamma australasiae

Hepialidae

Elhamma australasiae is a moth of the Hepialidae family. It is found along the eastern seaboard of Australia and New Guinea.

🔬

Endoxyla encalypti

Cossidae

Endoxyla encalypti, the wattle goat moth, is a moth of the Cossidae family. It is found in Australia, where it has been recorded along the eastern coast from Queensland through New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania.

🔬

Eretmocera impactella

Scythrididae

Eretmocera impactella is a moth of the family Scythrididae. This species is known from Oman, United Arab Emirates, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand and Pakistan.

🔬

Ernolatia moorei

Bombycidae

Ernolatia moorei is a moth in the Bombycidae family. It is found in Sri Lanka, India, southern China, Borneo and Taiwan.

🔬

Ethmia candidella

Ethmiidae

Ethmia candidella is a moth in the family Depressariidae. It is found in North Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East.

🔬

Ethmia clytodoxa

Ethmiidae

Ethmia clytodoxa is a moth of the Depressariidae family. It is known from the states of New South Wales and Queensland in Australia.

🔬

Ethmia pusiella

Ethmiidae

Ethmia pusiella is a moth of the family Depressariidae. It occurs throughout Europe and eastwards to the Tien Shan mountains of eastern Central Asia.

🔬

Ethmia sphaerosticha

Ethmiidae

Ethmia sphaerosticha is a moth in the Depressariidae family. It is found in eastern Australia, including New South Wales and Queensland.

🔬

Ethmia terminella

Ethmiidae

Ethmia terminella is a moth of the family Depressariidae. It was described by Thomas Bainbrigge Fletcher in 1838 and is found in Europe.

🔬

Eudarcia undescribed-meessiidae-one

Meessiidae

Antennae probably sexually dimorphic, broad and annulate in males (left) and narrower, darker, and seemingly more weakly annulated in females (right)

🔬

Eupterote flavicollis

Eupterotidae

Eupterote flavicollis is a moth in the family Eupterotidae. It was described by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville in 1843. It is found in India.

🔬

Eupterote mollifera

Eupterotidae

Eupterote mollifera is a moth in the family Eupterotidae. It was described by Francis Walker in 1865. It is found in India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

🔬

Eupterote orientalis

Eupterotidae

Eupterote orientalis is a moth in the family Eupterotidae. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius, but the year of description is not clear. It is found in Sri Lanka.

🔬

Eupterote primularis

Eupterotidae

Eupterote diffusa is a moth in the family Eupterotidae. It was described by Francis Walker in 1865. It is found in India and Sri Lanka.

🔬

Eupterote undata

Eupterotidae

Eupterote undata is a moth of the family Eupterotidae. It is found in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Sumatra, Java and the Philippines.

🔬

Eurodachtha pallicornella

Lecithoceridae

Eurodachtha pallicornella is a moth in the Lecithoceridae family. It was described by Staudinger in 1859. It is found in France and on the Iberian Peninsula.

🔬

Gastridiota adoxima

Bombycidae

Gastridiota is a monotypic genus consisting solely of Gastridiota adoxima, a moth of the family Bombycidae. The genus was erected by Alfred Jefferis Turner in 1922 but the species had been described by him in 1902 as Andraca adoxima. It is found in t

🔬

Gunda javanica

Bombycidae

Gunda javanica is a moth of the Bombycidae family. It is found in the north-eastern parts of the Himalaya, Burma, Sundaland, Palawan and Sulawesi. The habitat consists of lowland rainforest.

🔬

Gunda ochracea

Bombycidae

Gunda ochracea is a species of moth in the family Bombycidae. It was described by Francis Walker in 1862. It is found in the Indian subregion and from South-east Asia to Sumatra, Borneo and the Philippines. The habitat consists of various lowland for

🔬

Gymnobathra parca

Xyloryctidae

Gymnobathra parca is a moth in the family Oecophoridae first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1877. It is endemic to New Zealand. It has been hypothesised that this species likely belongs to another genus.

🔬

Gymnobathra sarcoxantha

Xyloryctidae

Gymnobathra sarcoxantha is a moth in the family Oecophoridae first described by Edward Meyrick in 1883. It is endemic to New Zealand. It has been hypothesised that this species likely belongs to another genus.

🔬

Gymnobathra tholodella

Xyloryctidae

Gymnobathra tholodella is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae first described by Edward Meyrick in 1883. It is endemic to New Zealand. It has been hypothesised that this species likely belongs to another genus.

🔬

Hemerophila albertiana

Choreutidae

Hemerophila albertiana is a moth in the family Choreutidae. It was described by Pieter Cramer in 1781. It is found in Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Guyana.

🔬

Histia flabellicornis

Zygaenidae

Histia flabellicornis is a moth in the family Zygaenidae. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. It is found in Asia. It has been recorded feeding on Bischofia trifoliata....

🔬

Homaloxestis briantiella

Lecithoceridae

Homaloxestis briantiella is a moth in the family Lecithoceridae. It was described by Turati in 1879. It is found in Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Slovakia, Albania, Hungary, Romania and the Republi

🔬

Homaloxestis multidentalis

Lecithoceridae

Homaloxestis multidentalis is a moth in the Lecithoceridae family. It was described by K.T. Park in 2004. It is found in Thailand.

🔬

Hygrochroa firmiana

Apatelodidae

Apatelodes firmiana is a moth in the family Apatelodidae first described by Caspar Stoll in 1782. It is found from Mexico to Guyana...

🔬

Izatha convulsella

Xyloryctidae

Izatha convulsella is a moth of the Oecophoridae family. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it is widespread in the eastern part of the South Island. In the North Island, it has only been recorded from Wellington, Otaki, Palmerston North, Taihape an

🔬

Izatha epiphanes

Xyloryctidae

Izatha epiphanes is a moth of the Oecophoridae family. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it is widespread throughout the North Island.

🔬

Izatha huttonii

Xyloryctidae

Izatha huttonii is a moth of the Oecophoridae family. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it is known from the South Island, Stewart Island, and the Wellington district of the North Island.

🔬

Izatha katadiktya

Xyloryctidae

Izatha katadiktya is a moth of the Oecophoridae family. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it is known from the eastern South Island, and probably Hawkes Bay.

🔬

Labdia semicoccinea

Cosmopterigidae

Labdia semicoccinea is a moth of the Cosmopterigidae family. It is found in Japan, Taiwan, Java, India, China and the Caucasus. It is an introduced species in parts of Europe.

🔬

Langsdorfia franckii

Cossidae

Langsdorfia franckii is a moth of the Cossidae family. It is native to Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Suriname, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. It was researched for introduction in Hawaii to control Lantana,

🔬

Lecithocera imprudens

Lecithoceridae

Lecithocera imprudens is a moth in the family Lecithoceridae. It was described by Meyrick in 1914. It is found in Australia, where it has been recorded from New South Wales and Queensland.

🔬

Lecithocera micromela

Lecithoceridae

Lecithocera micromela is a moth in the Lecithoceridae family. It was described by Lower in 1897. It is found in Australia and New Zealand.

🔬

Lecithocera nigrana

Lecithoceridae

Lecithocera nigrana is a moth in the family Lecithoceridae. It was described by Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel in 1835. It is found in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia,

🔬

Lecithocera terrigena

Lecithoceridae

Lecithocera terrigena is a moth in the Lecithoceridae family. It was described by Meyrick in 1904. It is found in Australia, where it has been recorded from New South Wales and Tasmania.

🔬

Lecitholaxa thiodora

Lecithoceridae

Lecitholaxa thiodora is a species of moth of the Lecithoceridae family. It is found in Taiwan, China (from south to north), Japan, Korea and India.

🔬

Lepidoscia heliochares

Psychidae

Lepidoscia heliochares is a moth of the Psychidae family first described by Edward Meyrick in 1893. This species is native to Australia but has been found in New Zealand since 1974.

🔬

Lepidoscia protorna

Psychidae

Lepidoscia protorna is a moth of the Psychidae family first described by Edward Meyrick in 1893. This species is native to Australia but has been found in New Zealand since 1978.

🔬

Leuroperna sera

Plutellidae

Leuroperna sera is a moth of the Plutellidae family. It is found in south-east Asia and Australia. The wingspan is about 10 millimetres (0.39 in). The larvae feed on various Brassicaceae species.

🔬

Lichenaula arisema

Xyloryctidae

Lichenaula arisema is a moth in the family Xyloryctidae. It was described by Meyrick in 1890. It is found in Australia, where it has been recorded from New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.

🔬

Lichenaula calligrapha

Xyloryctidae

Lichenaula calligrapha is a species of moth of the Xyloryctidae family. It is known from rainforests from northern Queensland to Victoria, although it has also been recorded from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Tasmania.

🔬

Lichenaula onychotypa

Xyloryctidae

Lichenaula onychotypa is a moth in the Xyloryctidae family. It was described by Turner in 1939. It is found in Australia, where it has been recorded from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Weste

🔬

Limnaecia camptosema

Cosmopterigidae

Limnaecia camptosema is a moth of the family Cosmopterigidae. It is known from Australia, where it has been recorded from Victoria.

🔬

Lophoptera squammigera

Euteliidae

Lophoptera squammigera is a member of the moth family Noctuidae. It occurs in the oriental tropics from Sri Lanka to Sundaland, Sulawesi, Timor and the Bismarck Archipelago.

🔬

Lyssa menoetius

Uraniidae

Lyssa menoetius is a moth of the family Uraniidae. The species was first described by German entomologist Hopffer in 1856.

🔬

Macara alydda

Megalopygidae

Macara alydda is a moth of the family Megalopygidae. It was described by Herbert Druce in 1887. It is found in Costa Rica and Napo Province, Ecuador. The habitat consists of montane cloud forests.

🔬

Macrobathra bigerella

Cosmopterigidae

Macrobathra bigerella is a moth in the family Cosmopterigidae. It was described by Francis Walker in 1864. It is found in Australia, where it has been recorded from New South Wales.

🔬

Macrobathra chrysotoxa

Cosmopterigidae

Macrobathra chrysotoxa is a species of moth of the family Cosmopterigidae. It is found in Australia.

🔬

Megalopyge albicollis

Megalopygidae

Megalopyge albicollis is a moth of the family Megalopygidae. It was described by Francis Walker in 1855.

🔬

Megalopyge defoliata

Megalopygidae

Megalopyge defoliata is a moth of the Megalopygidae family. It was described by Francis Walker in 1855. It is found in Mexico.

🔬

Megalopyge ravida

Megalopygidae

Megalopyge ravida is a moth of the family Megalopygidae. It was described by Herbert Druce in 1887. It is found in Mexico.

🔬

Megalopyge tharops

Megalopygidae

Megalopyge tharops is a moth of the family Megalopygidae. It was described by Caspar Stoll in 1782. It is found in French Guiana and Brazil.

🔬

Megalopyge undulata

Megalopygidae

Megalopyge undulata is a moth of the family Megalopygidae. It was described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1858. It is found in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

🔬

Megalopyge urens

Megalopygidae

Megalopyge urens is a moth of the family Megalopygidae. It was described by Carlos Berg in 1882. It is found in Brazil.

🔬

Morpheis pyracmon

Cossidae

Morpheis pyracmon, the fissured bark, is a moth in the Cossidae family. It was described by Pieter Cramer in 1780. It is found in Suriname, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru. The habitat consists of cloudforests, where it is found at altitudes between 400