Notodontidae, Stephens, 1829

Pohl, Greg, Anweiler, Gary, Schmidt, Christian & Kondla, Norbert, 2010, An annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Alberta, Canada, ZooKeys 38 (38), pp. 1-549 : 232

59. Notodontidae – prominents

Generally medium-sized (30–60 mm wingspan) moths with relatively robust bodies, although the family is structurally and phenotypically diverse. The antennae are bipectinate in the males and simple or narrowly pectinate in the females. Larvae are equally diverse in structure and color; those of many genera have unique and bizarre postures and structures. Most notodontids feed on the foliage of woody deciduous plants.

There are approximately 2 800 described species of notodontids globally (Kitching and Rawlins 1999). Th e majority of the 140 North American species occur in eastern hardwood forests. Alberta, with 24 species, has relatively few notodontids. Th ere are currently no comprehensive treatments of the North American Notodontidae , although higher-level systematics were treated by Miller (1991). The genus Gluphisia was revised by Franclemont (1941a). Forbes (1948) covered most of the species listed here, and Covell (1984) and Handfield (1999) illustrated most adults. Wagner (2005) and Ives and Wong (1988) included excellent images of larvae of some AB species. Schintlmeister (2008) provides a comprehensive treatment of the Palaearctic fauna, which includes a number of Asian and Eurasian species very similar to (and in some cases conspecific with) some of the North American species.