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Issue: Vol. 8 No. 5: October 2025
Type: Correspondence
Published: 2025-10-31
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.8.5.2
Page range: 476-479
Abstract views: 50
PDF downloaded: 3

An early Miocene prominent moth from Bílina mine in the Czech Republic (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae)

Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology, Viničná 7, CZ-128 00, Praha 2, Czech Republic
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Lepidoptera Notodontidae

Abstract

Prominent moths (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae) are morphologically and ecologically diverse members of the superfamily Noctuoidea, the largest radiation of extant Lepidoptera on Earth with more than 40,000 described species (van Nieukerken et al., 2011). The phylogenetic relations are yet unclear between Notodontidae and the other six recognized noctuoid families (Scranciidae, Oenosandridae, Noctuidae, Erebidae, Euteliidae, and Nolidae) (Zahiri et al., 2011; St Laurent et al., 2024). Recent higher-level molecular phylogenies recovered Notodontidae sister to a clade formed by Noctuidae, Erebidae, Euteliidae, and Nolidae (Zahiri et al., 2011; Wahlberg et al., 2013; Kawahara et al., 2019; Rota et al., 2022; St Laurent et al., 2024). However, due to poor taxon sampling and the scarcity of noctuoid fossils, the molecular-clock estimates for the divergence between Notodontidae and other extant noctuoid families remain highly uncertain, probably in the range of 67–88 Mya (Wahlberg et al., 2013; Kawahara et al., 2019).

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