noctuid

Etymology

From translingual Noctuidae.

noun

1. Any moth in the species-rich family Noctuidae or the superfamily Noctuoidea.
   Mr. H. McKnight, who resides at Goldstream, took a number of noctuids in September, feeding on hops. 1916, British Columbia Provincial Museum, Report of the Provincial Museum of Natural History, page 462
   The total wing area of these moths were essentially the same (geometrids = 3.8 cm²; noctuids = 3.6. cm²). Consequently, wing-loading of the noctuids was about twice as high as in the geometrids. 1981, T. M. Casey, “Insect Flight Energetics”, in Clyde F. Herreid II, Charles R. Fourtner, editors, Locomotion and Energetics in Arthropods, page 432
   Noctuids are renowned for their propensity for carnivory in general, and for cannibalism in particular (Gould et al. 1980). 1993, Thomas C.R. White, The Inadequate Environment: Nitrogen and the Abundance of Animals, page 76