Bombycoidea is a superfamily of moths, including the silk moths, sphinx moths, saturniids (including giant silk moths), and relatives. The superfamily Lasiocampoidea is a close relative and was historically sometimes merged in this group. After many years of debate and shifting taxonomies, the most recent classifications treat the superfamily as containing 10 constituent families.Kitching I, Rougerie R, Zwick A, Hamilton C, St Laurent R, Naumann S, Ballesteros Mejia L, Kawahara A (2018) A global checklist of the Bombycoidea (Insecta: Lepidoptera). Biodiversity Data Journal 6: e22236. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.6.e22236
Characteristics Bombycoid larvae often exhibit horns.Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders, edited by Christopher O'Toole, , 2002 In the adult stage they are typically large, and include the largest moths in the world.
Families Bombycoidea includes the following families:
Anthelidae Apatelodidae Bombycidae Brahmaeidae (syn. Lemoniidae) Carthaeidae Endromidae (syn. Mirinidae) Eupterotidae Phiditiidae Saturniidae Sphingidae
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