Pantheinae Smith, 1898

Behounek, Gottfried, Han, Hui-Lin & Kononenko, Vladimir, 2011, A revision of the genus Trisuloides Butler, 1881 with descriptions of three new species from China (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). Revision of Pantheinae, contribution I, Zootaxa 3069, pp. 1-25 : 2

Subfamily Pantheinae Smith, 1898

Medium sized moths, wingspan 40–80 mm. Antennae of male pectinate, serrate or filiform; labial palps mainly short, compressed, 3rd segment short or very short; proboscis often reduced, vestigial or shortened, but in some genera developed; eyes covered by short hairs, in some genera hairs minute or not visible; ocelli absent or tiny; frons smooth; wings triangular, in some cases narrow, more often wide, the outer margin oblique or straight; M2 on hindwing always well developed, strong; forewing color from black and white to brown or green; wing pattern diverse, often well marked, on forewing a black dagger-shaped tornal streak often present, orbicular and reniform stigmata usually well marked; in many genera hindwings yellow with black terminal band, often hindwing with tornal streak or patch; in genus Arcte hindwings brown with blue patches or marks. Tympanal bullae are fused laterally in small dorso-anterior area ( Panthea Hübner , [1820] 1816), or they are fused throughout. In male genitalia, uncus often shortened, wide; scaphium membranous, but in some cases sclerotised, subscaphium partly sclerotised; tegumen broad, usually without peniculus; juxta plate-like, transtilla expressed; valva massive, lobe-like, without corona; sacculus relatively narrow, elongated; cucullus not separated; harpe massive, usually beside or parallel to ventral margin of valva; editum plate-like, heavily sclerotised. Aedeagus massive; vesica in most cases tubular, armed with large or moderate spine-shaped cornuti or groups of moderate or small spines. In female genitalia, papillae anales quadrangular, relatively short; anterior and posterior apophyses relatively short, equal in length; antrum sclerotised, cup-shaped, shallow, ductus usually short; corpus bursae large, saccate, often with sclerotised patches.

The subfamily includes about 200 species worldwide, distributed in the Palaearctic, Oriental, Nearctic and Neotropical regions. Only 13 genera and about 60 species are known from the cool temperate zones of the Palaearctic, including 5 genera and 10 species in the Euro-Siberian subregion and 7 genera and 10–12 species in the northern Manchurian subregion ( Kononenko 2010). The centre of diversity of the subfamily is mountain broadleaved and mixed forests in the Himalayas, Indochina and south China ( Speidel, Kononenko 1998). Larvae feed mainly on woody plants, with a few coniferous trees; in the genus Anacronicta Warren, 1909 the known larvae feed on Poaceae . There are 21 genera and 142 species of Pantheinae presently occurring in Eurasia.

After Hampson (1913) the northern Palaearctic fauna (former USSR) of the subfamily was revised by Kozhanchikov (1950), as tribe Momini of the subfamily Acronictinae . He included in his “Momini” some genera with nonhairy eyes i.e., Moma Hübner, 1816 , Nacna Fletcher, 1961 , Gerbathodes Warren, 1911 (= Acronictoides Kozhanchikov, 1950 ), Cymatophoropsis Hampson, 1894 , Subleuconicta Kozhanchikov, 1950 and Euromoia Staudinger, 1892 . These were later placed in Acronictinae by Sugi (1982), and Raphia Hübner , [1821] 1816 and Diloba Boisduval, 1840 , were moved to the separate subfamilies Raphiinae and Dilobinae ( Fibiger & Lafontaine 2005, Fibiger et al. 2009). Kobes (1992) transferred the traditional “ Ophiderinae ” genera Baorisa Moore, 1882 , Donda Moore, 1882 and Trisula Moore, 1858 to Pantheinae . Recently, Hacker & Zilli (2007) synonymised the genera Panthauma Staudinger, 1892 and Trisula with Thiacidas Walker, 1855 , and placed them in the new subfamily Thiacidinae . Holloway (2009) expanded the concept of Pantheinae based on the Bornean fauna and transferred to Pantheinae several genera formerly placed in Erebinae or Catocalinae , including Arcte Kollar , [1844], Cyclodes Guenèe, 1852 , Donda and Belciana Walker, 1862 . The concept of the subfamily and its taxonomic composition still require clarification, especially in relation to oriental genera, and many genera and species are in need of extensive taxonomic revision. The subfamily in its present composition is morphologically highly diverse and probably paraphyletic.