Epicephala | |
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Epicephala colymbetella | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Gracillariidae |
Subfamily: | Gracillariinae |
Genus: | Epicephala Meyrick, 1880 |
Species | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
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Epicephala (leafflower moths) is a genus of moths in the family Gracillariidae.
Epicephala is of note in the fields of pollination biology and coevolution because many species in this genus are pollinators of plants in the genera Glochidion , Phyllanthus , and Breynia (Phyllanthaceae). These pollinating Epicephala actively pollinate the flowers of their host plants—thereby ensuring that the plants may produce viable seeds—but also lay eggs in the flowers' ovaries, where their larvae consume a subset of the developing seeds as nourishment. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] This relationship is similar to other specialized pollinating seed-predation mutualisms such as those between figs and fig wasps and yuccas and yucca moths.
Other species of Epicephala consume the seeds of species of Phyllanthus or Flueggea (Phyllanthaceae) as larvae, but do not pollinate their host plants as adults. [4] [8] At least some of these species have evolved from pollinating ancestors. [9]
Phyllanthus is the largest genus in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. Estimates of the number of species in this genus vary widely, from 750 to 1200. Phyllanthus has a remarkable diversity of growth forms including annual and perennial herbs, shrubs, climbers, floating aquatics, and pachycaulous succulents. Some have flattened leaflike stems called cladodes. It has a wide variety of floral morphologies and chromosome numbers and has one of the widest range of pollen types of any seed plant genus.
Breynia is a genus in the flowering plant family Phyllanthaceae, first described in 1776. It is native to Southeast Asia, China, Réunion, the Indian Subcontinent, Papuasia and Australia.
Glochidion is a genus of flowering plants, of the family Phyllanthaceae, known as cheese trees or buttonwood in Australia, and leafflower trees in the scientific literature. It comprises about 300 species, distributed from Madagascar to the Pacific Islands. Glochidion species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Aenetus eximia and Endoclita damor. The Nicobarese people have attested to the medicinal properties found in G. calocarpum, saying that its bark and seed are most effective in curing abdominal disorders associated with amoebiasis.
Glochidion temehaniense, also known by the synonym Phyllanthus temehaniensis, is a species of tree in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is endemic to the Society Islands of French Polynesia, where it is native to the islands of Tahaa, Raiatea, and Huahine. Like all other species of Glochidion, it is pollinated by leafflower moths in the genus Epicephala.
Breynia oblongifolia, commonly known as coffee bush, grows naturally in Australia and New Guinea as shrubs up to 3 m (10 ft) in height. The species produces alternate, distichous, ovate leaves 20–30 mm (0.8–1.2
Glochidion ferdinandi, with common names that include cheese tree, is a species of small to medium–sized trees, constituting part of the plant family Phyllanthaceae. They grow naturally across eastern Australia, from south–eastern New South Wales northwards to northern and inland Queensland, in rainforests and humid eucalypt forests. Frugivorous birds such as pigeons, figbirds and parrots consume its fruit. The tree roots and branches are toxic to dogs, causing liver failure and death.
Breynia vitis-idaea, the officinal breynia, is a perennial tree-like species of Phyllanthaceae, found from India east to Taiwan and Okinawa and south to Indonesia. It is a shrub or treelet with egg-shaped leaves that can reach up to 3 m tall. It has staminate flowers and spherical, red fruit.
Glochidion sumatranum known as the umbrella cheese tree is a plant in the family Phyllanthaceae. Although recognized as a distinct species by some sources, others include it within Glochidion zeylanicum. It is found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia. The habitat is rainforest, or rainforest margins in swampy areas, sometimes associated with palms. It may grow to 15 metres tall. The most southerly point of natural distribution is Iluka, New South Wales.
Epicephala vitisidaea is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found in Fujian, China and on the Ryukyu Archipelago.
Epicephala mirivalvata is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found in Fujian and Hainan, China.
Epicephala lativalvaris is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found in China.
Epicephala lanceolaria is a leafflower moth of the family Gracillariidae. The only known host of the larva is Glochidion lanceolarium which is pollinated by the imago.
Epicephala eriocarpa is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found in Fujian, China.
Epicephala bipollenella is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found in Fujian, China and the Ryukyu Archipelago.
Breynia disticha is a plant in the family Phyllanthaceae, first described in 1776. It is native to New Caledonia and Vanuatu in the western Pacific, but naturalized on a wide assortment of other islands around the world, as well as in the U.S. state of Florida.
Epicephala impolliniferens is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found in China (Hainan).
Epicephala corruptrix is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found on the Ryukyu Archipelago.
Breynia cernua grows naturally in Australia and Malesia as a shrub up to 2 m (7 ft) in height.
Glochidion lanceolarium is a species of leafflower tree in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is native to Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. In Mandarin it is known as 艾胶算盘子.
Phyllanthus reticulatus is a plant species described Jean Louis Marie Poiret; it is included in the family Phyllanthaceae.