Macrolepidoptera is a group within the insect order Lepidoptera. Traditionally used for the larger butterflies and moths as opposed to the "microlepidoptera", this group is artificial. However, it seems that by moving some taxa about, a monophyletic macrolepidoptera can be easily achieved. The two superfamilies Geometroidea and Noctuoidea account for roughly one-quarter of all known Lepidoptera.[citation needed]
More recent molecular studies have failed to recover the macrolepidoptera as a monophyletic group, but have found a well supported clade of moths that excludes the butterflies and some other moth superfamilies. This macro-moth clade, named Macroheterocera, contains the following five or six superfamilies:[1][2]