The more commonly seen adult moths of North America are likely to fall within several prominent families.  Although some families include organisms with an extremely wide range of size and shape, some generalizations can be made.  If you have observed an adult moth looking something like one of the examples shown below, there is a  chance that a close-matching  image will be found in the portion of the Moth Images List that describes the family. Dr. James Adams has a web page that will help you look for clues and narrow down your identification search. Click HERE to reach his web page.

Family description:  Medium to large moths with elongated forewings.  The body tends to be quite thick, often tapering to a point at the end of the abdomen.  They usually have a very long proboscis, enabling them to gather nectar from deep-throated flowers.

Some examples (hold the cursor over an image to see its genus/species):

Family description:  Medium to very large moths.  Antennae often very prominent and feathery (quadripectinate), especially in males (used to sense female pheromones).  Body thick and covered with hairlike scales.

Some examples (hold the cursor over an image to see its genus/species):

Note: This group was once a family but is now considered to be a subfamily within Family Erebidae.

Subfamily description:  Small to medium moths with elongated wings.  Tend to be brightly colored and/or marked on wings and body.  Antennae variable among the species, including both feathery and threadlike.

Some examples (hold the cursor over an image to see its genus/species):

Family description:  This is the largest family of moths, with several thousand species in North America.  Its members are small to medium animals, with a great diversity of shapes and colors.  Many have drab brown, gray, or black upper surfaces of wings, but some (such as most underwing moths) have strikingly bright hindwings of red, pink, or yellow.  All Noctuids have rather stout bodies.  The examples shown below are common Noctuids, but many moths of this family bear little resemblance to any of these. (Family Noctuidae has recently been subdivided into four families, Erebidae, Nolidae, Eutelliidae, and Noctuidae. My website has not yet made this alteration.)

Some examples (hold the cursor over an image to see its genus/species; click on the subfamily name to go to this family in the Moth Images List.):
 

Subfamily Acronictinae     Subfamily Noctuinae

Subfamily Amphipryinae    Subfamily Heliothinae

Subfamily Acontiinae     Subfamily Catocalinae

Subfamily Catocalinae     Subfamily Hypeninae (now within Family Erebidae)

Family Notodontidae  The Prominents

Family description:  Medium-sized moths with stout bodies.  Wings are usually rather drab, tending toward browns and grays.  Forewings are usually somewhat elongated.

Some examples (hold the cursor over an image to see its genus/species):

To go to the beginning of the Notodontidae portion of the Moth Images List, click HERE.

Family description:  Small to medium moths with rather broad wings, sometimes marked with wavy lines.  Forewings are often angular, with sharply pointed apex.  Bodies tend to be slender.

Some examples (hold the cursor over an image to see its genus/species):