What is "phalaena"

Phalaena \Pha*l[ae]"na\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ?, ?, a kind od moth.] (Zo["o]l.) A linn[ae]an genus which included the moths in general.

Phalaena is an obsolete genus of Lepidoptera used by Carl Linnaeus to house most moths.

Phalaena was one of three genera used by Linnaeus to cover all Lepidoptera. Papilio included all butterflies at that time, Sphinx included all hawk moths, and Phalaena included all the remaining moths. The type species was Phalaena typica (now Naenia typica in the family Noctuidae).

Phalaena has been declared a by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, for the purposes of the Law of Priority, but not the Law of Homonymy. Seven subgenera were raised to the rank of family as follows:

• Alucita Linnaeus, 1767 – Alucitidae
• Attacus Linnaeus, 1767 – Saturniidae
• Bombyx Linnaeus, 1758 – Bombycidae
• Geometra Linnaeus, 1758 – Geometridae
• Noctua Linnaeus, 1758 – Noctuidae
• Pyralis Linnaeus, 1758 – Pyralidae
• Tinea Linnaeus, 1758 – Tineidae
• Tortrix Linnaeus, 1758 – Tortricidae