Cucullia Schrank, 1802, Fauna Boica, 2(2):157.

Euderaea Hübner, [1821] 1816, Verzeichniss Bekannter Schmettlinge, p. 245.

Eucalimia Hübner, [1821] 1816, Verzeichniss Bekannter Schmettlinge, p. 245.

Callaenia Hübner, [1821] 1816, Verzeichniss Bekannter Schmettlinge, p. 246.

Empusa Hübner, [1821] 1816, Verzeichniss Bekannter Schmettlinge, p. 247. NOTE A junior homonym of Empusa Illiger, 1798, Orthoptera.

Argyritis Hübner, [1821] 1816, Verzeichniss Bekannter Schmettlinge, p. 247.

Tribunophora Hübner, 1822, Systematisch alphabetischen Verzeichniss Europäischer Schmetterlinge, pp. 20,37.

Lophia Sodoffsky, 1837, Bull Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou, 1837(6):88.

Lathosea Grote, 1881, Bull. Geol. Geog. Surv. Terr., 6:270.

Nycterophaeta Smith, 1882 (February), Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc., 4:45.

Epinyctis Grote, 1882 (April), Canad. Ent., 14:75.

Rancora Smith, 1892, Ent. News, 3:253.

Copicucullia Smith, 1894, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., 21:84.

Cheligalea Hampson, 1906, Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum, 6:13.

Argyrogalea Hampson, 1906, Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum, 6:81.

Argyromata Hampson, 1906, Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum, 6:82.

Empusada Hampson, 1906, Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum, 6:85.
NOTE Proposed as an objective replacement name for Empusa Hübner [1821], a junior homonym of Empusa Illiger, 1798, Orthoptera.

Pseudocopicucullia Dumont, 1928, Encyclopedie Entomologie, Series B, 3:20.

Pseudonycterophaeta Berio, 1934, Boll. Soc. Ent. Italiana, 66:124.

Calocucullia Ronkay and Ronkay, 1967, Acta Zool. Hungarica, 33:463.

Shargacucullia Ronkay and Ronkay, 1992, Acta Zool. Hungarica, 38:345.

Cucullia is a large genus of approximately 250 species found almost exclusively in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere with the exception of a few species found in Africa. Despite the diversity of the genus, its species are almost always characterized by their long forewing with a pointed apex. The patagia are capable of being raised into a pointed hat shaped "hood". In fact the generic name means a hood or cowl. Not all specimens, however, have the hood raised when the moth dies. The male genitalia are characterized by the presence of one to three large spines in the vesica of the aedoeagus, each borne on a diverticulum (or in some cases two on them borne on a bifid diverticulum) and the female genitalia by the emergence of the ductus seminalis from the cephalad or proximal end (bottom in the figures) of the bursa. If my interpretation of the structure of the bursa normally found in the "trifid" Noctuidae is correct, the bursa consists solely of the appendix bursae and the corpus bursae is absent or represented by a outpocketing of the bursae near its junction with the ductus bursae. In interpreting the vesica of the aedoeagus, it is usually helpful to take notes on the vesica just after it has been inflated, but before the genitalia are mounted on a slide. The vesica, in many of the species, is highly three deminsional and commonly shaped like a caltrop. Necessarily, therefore, the vesica becomes distorted when put under a coverslip on a slide.
In North America several species groups have been given generic status on the basis of some specific character such as the presence of a tibial claw or serrate antennae. In my opinion the similarities far outweigh the differences. Also the differences that do exist are no greater than those found in the Palearctic species of the genus, although they are usually more superficially apparent. Given the evanescent nature of tibial claws (e.g. one species placed in the former genus Copicucullia, cucullioides Barnes and Benjamin, lacks a tibial claw despite the fact that its nearest relative has one), I have opted for the larger generic concept.

All of the known larvae of Cucullia in North America feed on on the flowers, seeds, and leaves of various composites, apparently preferring the flowers. Several Palearctic species in one species group (e.g. Cucullia verbasci and Cucullia prenanthis), however, are found on species in the family Scrophulariaceae. The larvae are often brilliantly colored or colored to match the flowers of their foodplant. The larvae pupate in an earthern cell in the autumn, the adults emerging in early to late spring and are apparently long lived, flying throughout the summer. Many specimens have extensive deposits of pollen on the proboscis and the adults may be important pollinators.

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