| Batrachedridae | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Infraorder: | Heteroneura |
| Clade: | Eulepidoptera |
| Clade: | Ditrysia |
| Clade: | Apoditrysia |
| Superfamily: | Gelechioidea |
| Family: | Batrachedridae Heinemann & Wocke, 1876 |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Batrachedridae are a small family of tiny moths. These are small, slender moths which rest with their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies.
The taxonomy of this and related groups is often disputed.
This group was first proposed as a taxonomic rank in 1876 by Hermann von Heinemann and Maximilian Ferdinand Wocke under the name Batrachedrae. Lord Walsingham used the name Batrachedridae in 1890. [1]
Ron Hodges decided to separate a number of new species he was describing in 1966 from Batrachedra in his new genus Chedra , on the basis of the adult males possessing a "single, strong, apical spine on the ampulla" (also known as the harpe). Chedra then accommodated three species: two from North America and one from Chile. Hodges furthermore described two more related genera in this paper: Duospina and Ifeda . These genera he all placed in the family Gelechioidea. [1] [2]
In his 1978 treatment of the microlepidoptera of Hawaii, Elwood Zimmerman classified this group as a new subfamily of the family Gelechiidae, which he coined the Momphinae. Zimmerman split five local species from the genus Batrachedra to a new genus Batrachedrodes on the basis of morphology and the particular habit of feeding among sporangia on the underside of fern fronds. [1]
That same year, however, Hodges classified Batrachedra, Chedra, Duospina and Ifeda in the family Batrachedridae in The moths of America north of Mexico. [3] [4] Hodges changed the classification in his 1983 Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico and included the group as the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family Coleophoridae. [5] [6]
Meanwhile, in Italy, the microlepidopterist Giorgio Baldizzone published an account of the Coleophoridae of Australia in 1996, in which he removed the genus Corythangela from that family to the Batrachedridae sensu Hodges 1978, apparently not having read or not following Hodges 1983 yet, upon examining the genitalia of the two species then known from the territory and finding them more similar to those of other Batrachedridae. [4]
In 1999 Hodges reclassified it again as the family Batrachedridae. He also reclassified the family Epimarptidae as the subfamily Epimarptinae of this family, based on a number of shared synapomorphies. The Batrachedrinae sensu stricto he then reclassified as the subfamily Batrachedrinae. At the time Hodges considered the subfamily Batrachedrinae to include more than 100 species in five genera worldwide. [5] [7]
In Japan Yutaka Arita had been investigating a mysterious moth for a number of decades, but had been unable to identify it. He eventually got in touch with Kazuhiro Sugisima, and together with help of others, they were able to identify it and describe it as a new species of Idioglossa in 2000. Upon closer examination of the genitals of it and other species Sugisima transferred the genus, according to the key in Hodges' 1999 reclassification of the group, in the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family Batrachedridae. [8]
Sjaak J. C. Koster & Sergey Yu. Sinev in the 2003 Microlepidoptera of Europe recognise Hodges' subfamily Batrachedrinae at the rank of family again, but it is unclear where they place Epimarptis (which doesn't occur in Europe, as far as known). [5] [9]
In 2004 Lauri Kaila attempted to use cladistics to approximate the phylogeny of the superfamily Gelechioidea, using 193 morphological traits. In this work the family Batrachedridae appeared paraphyletic, because the family Coleophoridae sensu stricto was nested within the Batrachedridae. Kaila used an undescribed species from Australia which mined in the plant Lomandra longifolia , provisionally called "Batrachedra eustola", in his analysis. This taxon specifically helped to cause the Batrachedridae to be paraphyletic. Another problem was encountered with the genus Epimarptis . At the time, the few old specimens which existed in London had never been properly examined, and no one had knowingly collected any species of this genus since, and as such most of the traits used by Kaila were unknown. His paper proposed classifying the traditional family Coleophoridae, along with the subfamilies Batrachedrinae, Stathmopodinae and Coelopoetinae, in a newly circumscribed family Coleophoridae sensu lato . Inclusion of the genus Epimarptis in his analysis showed it belonged within his Coleophoridae sensu lato, but that including it caused a collapse of resolution in the basal clades of this provisional family. Kaila states that he is not formally revising Hodges' classification in this paper, merely suggesting a new classification. [10] [11] [12]
Later in 2004, Sugisima stated that, after examining the specimens of the new Japanese species of Epimarptis he had just recognised, and new photographs of the specimens in London, and filling out some of the numerous until then unknown morphological characteristics of this obscure genus, it was not possible for him to agree with Kaila's analysis wholeheartedly, because in some characteristics Epimarptis fell outside even Coleophoridae sensu lato. Sugisima also mentions he finds the synapomorphies used by Hodges to define this latter family and its subfamilies in 1999 invalid in light of the further morphological observations made by him and Kaila, finding only one synapomorphy verifiable. [12]
In 2006 Batrachedridae was expanded with another genus, the monotypic Houdinia with the single species Houdinia flexilissima restricted to New Zealand. In the description of this species Hoare et al. state that the new species appears morphologically closest to the new Epimarptis hiranoi of Japan, and because Kaila does not formally revise the taxonomy in his 2004 paper, they are classifying the species according to the taxonomy published by Hodges in 1999. [10]
In Zhi-Qiang Zhang's 2011 attempt to number all the known animal species of earth, van Nieukerken et al., the authors of the section on Lepidoptera, were aware of Hodges' 1999 work but chose to repudiate it, and re-recognised Epimarptidae as a family again. Four species in the genus Epimarptis were counted as belonging to this family. In their taxonomic interpretation, the family Batrachedridae was circumscribed by Heinemann & Wocke in 1876, and comprised 99 species in 10 genera. [13]
Three years later, in 2014, a cladistic analysis by Heikkilä et al. repudiated this interpretation and synonymised Epimarptidae with Batrachedridae again. They furthermore removed the genera Homaledra and Houdinia from the family, and moved both to the Pterolonchidae. [14]
In 1999 Hodges considered the family to have two subfamilies:
These genera have at one point been assigned to the family:
A total of over a hundred species of Batrachedra are found on every continent except Antarctica, including a number of Pacific islands, [15] although there are only three species that occur in Europe. [16] The genus Batrachedrodes, with six species, is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. [1] Six Chedra species have been found, scattered over the USA, Chile, [2] Hawaii [1] and the Philippines. [17] Three species of Epimarptis have been found scattered across the Indian Subcontinent, another was found in Japan. [12] Eight Idioglossa species been found, one to two species on each continent, except five species in Asia, and none in Europe, South America and Antarctica. [18] [19]
North America contains at least six genera. [7] [12]
Australia contains three genera, two species of Corythangela and twenty-nine of Batrachedra, as well as a number of undescribed species [10] [20] and one species of Idioglossa. [18] [19] [21]
The Hawaiian Islands contain two genera with eight species, six of Batrachedrodes, and two of Chedra. [1]
The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy has been subject to considerable dispute. These are generally very small moths with narrow, fringed wings. The larvae of most species feed internally on various parts of their host plants, sometimes causing galls. Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga) is a host plant common to many species of the family, particularly of the genus Chionodes, which as a result is more diverse in North America than usual for Gelechioidea.
Gelechioidea is the superfamily of moths that contains the case-bearers, twirler moths, and relatives, also simply called curved-horn moths or gelechioid moths. It is a large and poorly understood '"micromoth" superfamily, constituting one of the basal lineages of the Ditrysia.
Batrachedra is the largest genus in the moth family Batrachedridae, with representatives all over the world. The early stages of most species are unknown. The genus name is derived from the Greek words batrachos, 'frog', and edra, 'seat', referring to the frog-like resting posture of the adult moths. As of 2018 at least some 114 species are known to belong to the genus.
The Cosmopterigidae are a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera. These are small moths with narrow wings whose tiny larvae feed internally on the leaves, seeds and stems of their host plants. About 1500 species are described. The taxonomic family is most diverse in the Australian and Pacific region with about 780 species.
Pterolonchidae is a small family of very small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. There are species native to every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
Chedra is a genus of tiny moths, belonging to the family Batrachedridae.
Homaledra is a small genus of at least four species small moth of the family Pterolonchidae native to North and South America.
Depressariidae is a family of moths. It was formerly treated as a subfamily of Gelechiidae, but is now recognised as a separate family, comprising about 2,300 species worldwide.
Houdinia is a monotypic genus of moths in the family Batrachedridae. Its sole species, Houdinia flexilissima, is endemic to raised bogs in northern New Zealand. It is classified as "At Risk, Relict" by the Department of Conservation. The caterpillars are sometimes referred to as Fred the thread.
Chedra microstigma is a tiny moth of the family Batrachedridae described in 1907. It has only been found on Oahu. It has been found feeding on sedges, plants belonging to the Cyperaceae family, and its larvae host at least three species of parasitoids in Hawaii.
Chedra mimica is a tiny moth of the family Batrachedridae known from Hawaii.
Idioglossa is a genus of moths of the family Batrachedridae.
Coelopoeta is a relatively divergent genus of small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea, which have only been found in western North America.
Ifeda perobtusa is a species of moth of the family Batrachedridae. It is found in Brazil, British Guiana and Peru. Its alar expense is 8-10mm.
Chedra pensor is a tiny dwarf moth in the family Batrachedridae. It was collected by Ronald W. Hodges at a place called West Fork, 16 miles (26 km) southwest of Flagstaff, Coconino County, Arizona, in the United States, at 1,981 metres (6,499 ft) in elevation in early July, and subsequently described by him in 1966. It has been found in the US states of California, Arizona and Illinois. The holotype is kept at the Department of Entomology of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. It is the type species of the genus Chedra.
Homaledra heptathalama, the exclamation moth or palm leaf housemaker, is a moth in the family Pterolonchidae. It was described by August Busck in 1900. It is found in the United States, where it has been recorded from Alabama, Florida and South Carolina.
Homaledra sabalella, the palm leaf skeletonizer moth, is a moth in the family Pterolonchidae. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. It is also present in Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Cuba.
Batrachedra smilacis is a moth in the family Batrachedridae. It is found in China and Korea.
Idioglossa polliacola is a tiny species of moth of the family Batrachedridae.
Epimarptidae was a former, or is a possible, monotypic family of moths in the moth superfamily Gelechioidea. It can now be seen as either a synonym of family Batrachedridae, or a monotypic subfamily of that family.
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