Phylogenomics resolves a congruent noctuoid Tree of Life

Abstract Noctuoidea, the most diverse and economically significant superfamily of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), remain phylogenetically challenging due to the superfamily’s rapid radiation during the Late Cretaceous to Palaeogene. Previous phylogenetic studies have been limited by either the insufficiency of genes or ambiguous morphological characters, often leading to conflicting topological frameworks. In this study, we analysed five amino acid datasets from the two most recent phylogenomic studies, employing site compositional heterogeneous mixture models to evaluate the robustness of the backbone phylogeny of Noctuoidea and the validity of Scranciidae as a distinct family. Our results confirm a robust phylogenetic framework for Noctuoidea, with Oenosandridae as sister to (Notodontidae + (Erebidae + (Nolidae + (Euteliidae + Noctuidae)))), and placed Scranciinae stat. res. as the first-diverging lineage of Notodontidae (sister to the remaining notodontids). Our extensive phylogenomic analyses effectively reconcile the existing phylogenomic conflicts between the recent anchored hybrid enrichment and genome/transcriptome-based studies of noctuoid phylogeny. It will provide a solid foundation for future research on the classification, phylogeny, biogeography, and macroevolution of Noctuoidea.