| Acanthopteroctetidae | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Clade: | Coelolepida |
| Infraorder: | Acanthoctesia |
| Superfamily: | Acanthopteroctetoidea |
| Family: | Acanthopteroctetidae Davis, 1978 |
| Genera and species | |
AcanthopteroctetesBraun, 1921
Catapterix Zagulajev & Sinev, 1988
| |
| Diversity | |
| 7 described species in 2 genera + 2 undescribed species | |
Acanthopteroctetidae is a small family of moths with two described genera, Acanthopteroctetes and Catapterix , a total of seven described species, and two undescribed species. [1] [2] They are known as the archaic sun moths.
The Acanthopteroctetidae have been classified as the sole family in the superfamily Acanthopteroctetoidea and the infraorder Acanthoctesia; [3] however, based on molecular phylogenetic evidence, they may instead be classified in the superfamily Neopseustoidea, together with the Neopseustidae and Aenigmatineidae. [4] : 675, 681
Moths in this superfamily are usually small (but one is 15 mm. in wingspan) and iridescent. Like other "homoneurous" Coelolepida and non-ditrysian Heteroneura, the ocelli are lost. There are a variety of unique structural characteristics, [5] and they are evolutionary distinctive. [6] The female adults of both Catapterix crimaea [7] and C. tianshanica [8] are unknown.
Four of the species of type genus Acanthopteroctetes ( A. aurulenta , A. bimaculata , A. tripunctata and A. unifascia ) are very localised in Western North America, [9] while its fifth species ( A. nepticuloides ) was described from South Africa. [10] Genus Catapterix has two species, of which Catapterix crimaea has been observed in Crimea and southern France, [7] while Catapterix tianshanica is known from Kyrgyzstan. [8]
In addition, two taxa are known to exist but have so far not been formally described: one from the Andes in Peru, [5] : 54 [4] : 691 and one from China. [4] : 691
Around the start of the century, they were considered the sister group to all other members of the group Coelolepida [11] [12] , in part based on scale morphology. [5] : 53–54
However, modern molecular phylogenetic evidence indicates that Acanthopteroctetidae is most closely related to Neopseustidae, and may even fall within Neopseustidae, rendering it nonmonophyletic. [1]
of the Lepidoptera since then has indicated a close relation between the Acanthopteroctetidae, the Neopseustidae and the Aenigmatineidae, [4] : 672–681 and the three may be considered part of a single superfamily Neopseustoidea rather than three separate, monobasic superfamilies. [4] : 681 Molecular data from the same research showed weak support for the clade Coelolepida, and weakly contradicted the placement of Acanthopteroctetidae as sister to the remaining Coelolepida. [4] : 676
Genus Catapterix was originally described within its own family, Catapterigidae, [13] [14] which is considered a junior synonym of Acanthopteroctidae, [15] with which it shares specialised structural features including similar wing morphology (in A. unifascia). [6] : 1255
Data on the species in Acanthopteroctetidae are scarce. Of the seven described species, only Acanthopteroctetes unifascia has a full description of the larval stage available. [4] : 691 [8] Other than a single record of a specimen tentatively identified as Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata, [4] : 691 the larvae of the remaining species in both genera are unknown.
Acanthopteroctetes unifascia larvae are leaf-miners on the shrub genus Ceanothus (Rhamnaceae). [5] They form blotch-shaped mines and overwinter as larva, after which feeding continues in spring. [4] Pupation occurs in a cocoon on the ground. [5] The adult moths emerge during spring and are diurnal.
The specimen tentatively identified as Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata was recorded from a leaf mine on a Ribes sp. (Grossulariaceae). [4] : 691
As of September 2022 [update] , none of the species in Acanthopteroctetidae have been evaluated by the IUCN. [16]