Obtectomera

The Obtectomera is a clade of macro-moths and butterflies, comprising over 100,000 species in at least 12 superfamilies.

Taxonomy
The Obtectomera includes the following 12 superfamilies:
 * Whalleyanoidea Minet, 1991
 * Thyridoidea Herrich-Schäffer, 1846 – picture-winged leaf moths
 * Hyblaeoidea Hampson, 1903 – teak moths
 * Calliduloidea Moore, 1877 – Old World butterfly-moths
 * Papilionoidea Latreille, 1802 – true butterflies
 * Pyraloidea Latreille, 1809 – pyraloid moths
 * Mimallonoidea Burmeister, 1878 – sack bearers (sometimes included Macroheterocera )
 * Macroheterocera Chapman, 1893
 * Drepanoidea Boisduval, 1828 – drepanids
 * Noctuoidea Latreille, 1809 – owlet moths
 * Geometroidea Leach, 1815 – inchworms
 * Lasiocampoidea Harris, 1841 – lappet moths
 * Bombycoidea Latreille, 1802 – bombycoid moths

Some other superfamilies are sometimes included:


 * Pterophoroidea Latreille, 1802 – plume moths
 * Alucitoidea Leach, 1815 – many-plume moths
 * Copromorphoidea [=Carposinoidea ] Walsingham, 1897 – fruitworm moths
 * Epermenioidea Spuler, 1910 – fringe-tufted moths
 * Gelechioidea Stainton, 1854 – case-bearers, twirler moths, curved-horn moths, etc.

The macroheteroceran superfamilies were previously place in the Macrolepidoptera, but recent molecular studies have failed to recover the Macrolepidoptera as a monophyletic group. The latter grouping also included true butterflies (Papilionoidea), New World butterfly-moths (Hedylidae), Old World butterfly-moths (Calliduloidea), and European gold moths (Axioidea).