The Family Notodontidae
The Notodontidae are part of the superfamily Noctuoidea, which is the largest superfamily of the Lepidoptera and includes more than 80,000 described species. Noctuoidea are characterized by the presence of a metathoracic tympanal organ in the adults and the presence of two MD setae on the larval metathorax (Kristensen 1998: 355). Antennae are in most males bipectinated with long rami, but a part toward the antenna tip remains filiform. Female antennae are bipectinated with shorter rami than in the males or filiform with ciliae. The forewing pattern is noctuoid: basal, postmedial and marginal fasciae as well as a discal spot and reniform stignum are present in most species. Hindwings are usually uniformly brown with a medial shadow. Most groups display costal and anal markings. Male genitalia are characterized by the presence of a pair of socii and often by a gnathal process. The saccular area of the valvae is membranous, but in some genera strongly sclerotized and well developed. The phallus (= aedeagus) often displays modifications at the tip, such as spines and hooks. The everted endophallus (= vesica) bears often moveable stellate spicules, which are sometimes seen in the corpus bursae after copulating. A carina and other sclerotized structures are regularly present in the endophallus. If the endophallus is fully everted, its shape is of taxonomic value, in particular in cases of closely related species. 8th abdominal segments are in Notodontidae in most genera modified, bearing lobes, spines and projections and also specifically sclerotizations. Female genitalia have two pairs of apophyses. Some groups display a large, strongly sclerotized postvaginal plate of specific shape. Many species bear a signum on corpus bursae as seen also in other families.
Notodontidae larvae are in most species oligophagous. Groups of more closely related species feed usually in the same plant families. Species of the subfamily Ceirinae Matsumura, 1929 are restricted to monocotyledons, mainly palms and bamboos. Caterpillars of Cerurinae Butler, 1881 and Pygaerinae Duponchel, 1845 have host plants in Salicaceae and Flacourtiaceae. Most Dicranurinae Duponchel, 1845 feed on Fagaceae, but occasionally Rosceae, Juglandaceae, Ulmaceae, Styracaceae and other plant families are among their host plants. For most Oriental notodontids, however, the larvae and their host plants are still unknown. Only a very few species in the Notodontidae are in Indonesia known for their economic importance in the defoliating of fruit trees, e.g. Tarsolepis for the Rambutan tree (Nephelium lappaceum, Sapindaceae).