Belongs within: Apoditrysia.
Contains: Hyblaeoidea, Pyraloidea, Mimallonidae, Macroheterocera, Gelechioidea, Thyrididae, Callidulidae, Alucitidae, Epermeniidae, Carposinoidea, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Riodinidae, Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae.
The Obtectomera are a clade of Lepidoptera united in its circumscription below by molecular phylogenetic analysis. Historically, the clade has been characterised by pupae with abdominal segments 1–4 immobile and without a dorsal row of spines on the tergites (Grimaldi & Engel 2005). However, Obtectomera in this sense may not be monophyletic. Molecular data also indicate that the historically recognised Macrolepidoptera, including mostly larger species, are not monophyletic. Instead, the Papilionoidea represent the sister lineage to other Obtectomera. The greater part of the remaining Lepidoptera have been assigned to the clade Macroheterocera.
The Papilionoidea, butterflies and skippers, are diurnal Lepidoptera with a pouch on abdominal tergite 1 that lay eggs upright and have a girdle around the pupa (Grimaldi & Engel 2005). The butterflies and most skippers are the best known of the day-flying Lepidoptera. However, members of the small Neotropical family Hedylidae are nocturnal. Hedylids have slender bodies and long wings, and fold the fore legs under the thorax when walking (Grimaldi & Engel 2005). Historically, Hesperiidae and/or Hedylidae have been regarded as the basalmost members of the Papilionoidea, but recent analyses assign that position to the Papilionoidea.
The Madagascan genus Whalleyana is of uncertain position within the Obtectomera. Whalleyana species are somewhat arctiid-like moths with reduced ocelli and large contiguous chaetosemata. This last feature counter-indicates historical inclusion of Whalleyana in the Thyrididae (Dugdale et al. 1999).
<==Obtectomera [Bombycina, Bombycites, Coleophoromorpha, Macrolepidoptera, Pyralidina, Pyralomorpha]KP19
| i. s.: WhalleyanaDK99 [Whalleyanidae, WhalleyanoideaGE05]
| `--W. vroniDK99
| Cypra delicatula [incl. Cozistra membranacea]M86
| Ruttellerona lithinaHN99
|--+--+--+--HyblaeoideaHM15
| | | `--PyraloideaKP19
| | `--+--MimallonidaeKP19
| | `--MacroheteroceraKP19
| `--+--GelechioideaKP19
| `--+--+--ThyrididaeKP19
| | `--CallidulidaeKP19
| `--+--AlucitidaeKP19
| `--+--EpermeniidaeHM15
| `--CarposinoideaHM15
`--Papilionoidea [Papilionides, Papilionomorpha, Rhopalocera]KP19
| i. s.: Thanatites vetulaGE05
| DaedelmaB66a
| |--D. doraeteB66a
| `--D. emilia Butler 1866B66a
| DebisB66a
| |--D. chandicaB66a
| |--D. europaWM66
| |--‘Papilio’ halyma Fabricius 1793 [=Neonympha halyma, Satyrus halyma]B66b
| |--D. isabella Butler 1866B66a
| `--D. portlandiaB66b
| HetaeraB66a
| |--H. aurora [incl. H. andromeda]B66a
| |--H. esmeraldaB66a
| |--H. harpalyce Butler 1866B66a
| |--H. pellucida Butler 1866B66a
| |--H. philisB66a
| `--H. piretaB66a
| CallidryasWM66
| |--C. alcmeoneWM66
| |--C. pyrantheWM66
| `--C. scyllaR13
| Messaris erymanthusWM66
| DiademaWM66
| |--D. augeWM66
| |--D. bolinaWM66
| `--D. dexitheaOb90
| Athyma leucothoeWM66
| ErgolisWM66
| |--E. corytaWM66
| `--E. merioneA73
| Cyllo ledaWM66
| Pterygospidea folus [incl. P. cicero]WM66
| Chionobas bore [incl. Papilio polixenes Fabricius 1793, Neonympha polixenes]B66b
| Enodia creolaC37
| Sarangesa eliminataB01
| Argyrophenga antipodumP27
| ArchaepreponaGE05
| Heraclides cresphontesI92
| EricinaG20
| |--E. cupidoG20
| `--E. lysippusG20
| Stallingsia maculosaEN20
| Aegiale hesperiarisEN20
| Meneris tulbaghia [=Aeropetes tulbaghia]EN20
| ParnassusR26
| |--P. apolloR26
| `--P. mnemosyneR26
| Zeritis disciferaOl90
| Ialmenus evagorasOl90
| Telesto drachmophoraOl90
| Perrhybris pyrrhaT02
|--PapilionidaeKP19
`--+--+--PieridaeKP19
| `--+--NymphalidaeV-W04
| `--+--RiodinidaeV-W04
| `--LycaenidaeV-W04
`--+--HesperiidaeKP19
`--Hedylidae [Hedyloidea]GE05
|--Hedyle Guenée 1857BR05
`--MacrosomaKP19
|--M. hedylariaGE05
`--M. tipulataAJV-W99
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
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[A73] Ashton, R. 1973. Butterflies of New Delhi (Papilionoidea). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 69 (3): 502–509.
[BR05] Bouchet, P., & J.-P. Rocroi. 2005. Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families. Malacologia 47 (1–2): 1–397.
[B66a] Butler, A. G. 1866a. Descriptions of some new exotic butterflies in the National Collection. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 39–42.
[B66b] Butler, A. G. 1866b. A monograph of the genus Euptychia, a numerous race of butterflies belonging to the family Satyridae; with descriptions of sixty species new to science, and notes on their affinities &c. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 458–504.
[B01] Butler, A. G. 1901. On a collection of butterflies from the Uganda Protectorate, forwarded by C. Steuart Betton, Esq., in 1900. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 7: 562.
[C37] Clark, A. H. 1937. The butterflies of Virginia. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 39 (5): 116.
[DK99] Dugdale, J. S., N. P. Kristensen, G. S. Robinson & M. J. Scoble. 1999. The smaller Microlepidoptera-grade superfamilies. In: Kristensen, N. P. (ed.). Handbuch der Zoologie vol. 4. Arthropoda: Insecta pt 35. Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies vol. 1. Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography pp. 217–232. Walter de Gruyter.
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[HM15] Heikkilä, M., M. Mutanen, N. Wahlberg, P. Sihvonen & L. Kaila. 2015. Elusive ditrysian phylogeny: an account of combining systematized morphology with molecular data (Lepidoptera). BMC Evolutionary Biology 15: 260.
[HN99] Holloway, J. D., & E. S. Nielsen. 1999. Biogeography of the Lepidoptera. In: Kristensen, N. P. (ed.). Handbuch der Zoologie vol. 4. Arthropoda: Insecta pt 35. Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies vol. 1. Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography pp. 423–462. Walter de Gruyter.
[I92] Imes, R. 1992. The Practical Entomologist. Aurum Press: London.
[KP19] Kawahara, A. Y., D. Plotkin, M. Espeland, K. Meusemann, E. F. A. Toussaint, A. Donath, F. Gimnich, P. B. Frandsen, A. Zwick, M. dos Reis, J. R. Barber, R. S. Peters, S. Liu, X. Zhou, C. Mayer, L. Podsiadlowski, C. Storer, J. E. Yack, B. Misof & J. W. Breinholt. 2019. Phylogenomics reveals the evolutionary timing and pattern of butterflies and moths. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 116 (45): 22657–22663.
[M86] Meyrick, E. 1886. On some Lepidoptera from the Fly River. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (2): 241–258.
[Ob90] Oberthür, C. 1890. Note suivante. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 6e série 9: ccxli–ccxlii.
[Ol90] Olliff, A. S. 1890. On Rhopalocera from Mt. Kosciusko, New South Wales. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 4 (3): 619–624.
[P27] Philpott, A. 1927. The maxillae in the Lepidoptera. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 721–746.
[R13] Reuter, O. M. 1913. Lebensgewohnheiten und Instinkte der Insekten bis zum Erwachen der sozialen Instinkte. R. Friedländer & Sohn: Berlin.
[R26] Risso, A. 1826. Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l’Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes vol. 5. F.-G. Levrault: Paris.
[T02] Tobias, J. A. 2002. Family Galbulidae (jacamars). In: Hoyo, J. del, A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds) Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 7. Jacamars to Woodpeckers pp. 74–101. Lynx Edicions: Barcelona.
[V-W04] Vane-Wright, D. 2004. Butterflies at that awkward age. Nature 428: 477–480.
[WM66] Wallace, A. R., & F. Moore. 1866. List of lepidopterous insects collected at Takow, Formosa, by Mr. R. Swinhoe. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 355–365.