Adeloidea

Adeloidea
	A longhorn moth, Nemophora degeerella
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Clade:	Incurvariina
Superfamily:	Adeloidea; Bruand, 1850
Families
	Adelidae; Cecidosidae; Heliozelidae; Incurvariidae; Prodoxidae
Diversity
	About 600 species
Synonyms
	Incurvarioidea Spuler, 1898;

Specimen of Adela reaumurella on a leaf. — Adela reaumurella

Adeloidea is a superfamily of primitive monotrysian moths in the order Lepidoptera which consists of leafcutters, yucca moths and relatives. This superfamily is characterised by a piercing, extensible ovipositor used for laying eggs in plants (Davis, 1999). Many species are day-flying with metallic patterns.

References

^ van Nieukerken et al (2011) Order Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness, Zootaxa 3148, 212-221.

Davis, D.R. (1999). The Monotrysian Heteroneura. Ch. 6, pp. 65–90 in Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.). Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches / Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Band / Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Teilband / Part 35: 491 pp. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York.