noctuidæ

from The Century Dictionary.

• An extensive family of nocturnal lepidopterous insects, typified by the genus Noctua, and corresponding to the Linnean section Phalæna noctua.
• One of the many families into which the superfamily Noctuæ (see Noctuidæ) has been divided by some authors, notably by Guenée, containing the important genera Agrotis, Tryphama, and Noctua. The characters of this group are not very marked, but most of the species bear spines upon the fore tibiæ.