Table 2.
Taxonomic and preservational modes of lepidopteran fossils
| Superfamily | CI | CI&T | AM | AM&T | CO | SI | SI&T | SR | GC | AS | PET | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tineoidea | 3 | 0 | 105 | 96 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 214 |
| Papilionoidea | 81 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 142 |
| Noctuoidea | 30 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 67 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 110 |
| Nepticuloidea | 2 | 97 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 103 |
| Gelechioidea | 3 | 14 | 76 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 93 |
| Tortricoidea | 2 | 0 | 78 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 82 |
| Bombycoidea | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 53 |
| Gracillarioidea | 1 | 39 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
| Micropterigoidea | 10 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Yponomeutoidea | 4 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| Adeloidea | 0 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Geometroidea | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Pyraloidea | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Zygaenoidea | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Hepialoidea | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Cossoidea | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Eriocranioidea | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Pterophoroidea | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Carposinoidea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Lophocoronoidea | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mnesarchaeoidea | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Tischerioidea | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Thyridoidea | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
The numbers of the fossil specimens are shown in each column. The lepidopteran superfamilies are arranged by numerical rank order of total fossil specimens. Preservational mode abbreviations: AM, amber and copal; AS, asphaltum and tar sands; CI, compressions and impressions; GC, gut contents and coprolites; PE, peat and lignite; SA, salt deposits; SR, sieved residues; and SI, silica and other forms of permineralization.