With almost 200 species included at one time, "Xestia" was something of a "wastebin genus". But almost half of the traditional species are now placed elsewhere (see below), and some of the remaining ones are liable to be assigned to another genus also. On the other hand, new moths that probably do belong in this genus are still being discovered (e.g. "X. hypographa", which led to the 2002 transfer of "X. ornata" from "Eugraphe" to here). Thus, unless there are drastic taxonomic changes in the future, "Xestia" is likely to remain one of the larger noctuine genera.