| Epimarptidae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Infraorder: | Heteroneura |
| Clade: | Eulepidoptera |
| Clade: | Ditrysia |
| Clade: | Apoditrysia |
| Superfamily: | Gelechioidea |
| Family: | Epimarptidae Meyrick, 1914 |
| Synonyms | |
| |
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.
Epimarptidae was first created as a monotypic family by Edward Meyrick in 1914 to house his new genus Epimarptis, with a single species from India. [1] Epimarptis remained monotypic until a second species was described from Sri Lanka by Meyrick three years later, although in this publication Meyrick decided to reclassify the genus in the family Epermeniidae, an interpretation he maintained in all his subsequent publications. Meyrick described his final third species from Assam in far eastern India in 1931. [2]
The genus remained encompassing three species from the Indian subcontinent until Kazuhiro Sugisima described a new species from Japan in 2004. Specimens of this moth had been collected numerous times since at least 1975, but had remained nameless up until then. [2] [3]
The concept of the superfamily Gelechioidea had begun to crystallise in the late 1960s, and in 1986 Joël Minet was the first to include the genus Epimarptis, unassigned to family, within this grouping. Minet resurrected the family Epimarptidae for the genus in 1990, and was followed in this by Sergey Yu. Sinev in 1992, [2] but in 1998 Ron Hodges reclassified the family Epimarptidae as the subfamily Epimarptinae in the family Batrachedridae, based on a number of shared synapomorphies. [4] [5]
In the 2003 book Microlepidoptera of Europe Sjaak J. C. Koster and Sergey Yu. Sinev chose to disregard Hodges, continuing to view the subfamily Batrachedrinae at the rank of family (Batrachedridae), but it is unclear where they place Epimarptis (which doesn't occur in Europe). [6]
In 2004 Lauri Kaila attempted to use cladistics to approximate the phylogeny of the superfamily Gelechioidea, using 193 morphological traits, and including Epimarptis. He lacked data for most of these morphological characters in Epimarptis, as the genus had not been seen again since Meyrick, let alone studied. Due to this incompleteness, he was obliged to exclude Epimarptis from much analysis, as depending on the most parsimonious consensus tree used, it might be classified as belonging to, or allied to, one of a number of different genera, which rendered a collapse of resolution in the basal clades of his Coleophoridae sensu lato . It was, however, clearly included in his Coleophoridae sensu lato, along with the family Coleophoridae sensu stricto , Hodges' subfamily Batrachedrinae and the genera Coelopoeta , Stathmopoda and perhaps Idioglossa . Kaila is careful to state that he was not formally revising Hodges' classification in his paper. [2] [3] [7] When Sugisima published his new Epimarptis species a few months after Kaila's cladistic analysis, he attempted to fill in some of the missing morphological data in order to help resolve where the genus should be classified. However, the new data failed to give any more resolution, and in fact made the classification of Epimarptis within the Coleophoridae sensu lato possibly less certain, let alone whether it should be placed in the Batrachedridae or not. Sugisima mentions he finds the synapomorphies used by Hodges to define this latter family and its subfamilies in 1998 questionable in light of the further morphological observations made by him and Kaila. [2]
In Zhi-Qiang Zhang's 2011 attempt to list all the known animal species of Earth, van Nieukerken et al., the authors of the section on Lepidoptera, were aware of Hodges' 1998 work but chose to repudiate it, and re-recognised Epimarptidae as a family again. Four species in the genus Epimarptis were still counted as belonging to the family at the time. [8]
In 2014 work by Heikkilä et al. using cladistics essentially bolstered Hodges' 1998 viewpoint, synonymising this family with Batrachedridae. [9]
The new species Houdinia flexissima from New Zealand appears to be very similar and may be closely related to this group, along with two undescribed species from New Zealand and Australia. Hoare et al. classified the species in the family Batrachedridae, as opposed to the Epimarptidae, due to Kaila's 2004 statement regarding formally revising the classification, but it might properly be placed in the Epimarptidae, or at least the subfamily Epimarptinae sensu Hodges, depending on the taxonomy used. [3]
According to Sugisima it is very probable that many more new species within the genus have already been collected and many specimens await description whilst gathering dust in musea and collections in Japan and Europe. [2]
Almost absolutely nothing is known about the ecology of the family. Epimarptis hiranoi was mostly collected at low altitudes, E. philocoma presumably as well, but E. septicodes was collected at relatively high elevations. The moths all appear to be night-fliers. In E. hiranoi, imagoes are only known to fly from mid-June to mid-July, with a peak in the second quarter. The larvae of none of the species have ever been seen (or recognised as such), and the life histories or host plants of none of the species are known. [2]
The Elachistidae are a family of small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. Some authors lump about 3,300 species in eight subfamilies here, but this arrangement almost certainly results in a massively paraphyletic and completely unnatural assemblage, united merely by symplesiomorphies retained from the first gelechioid moths.
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.
Sesioidea is a superfamily containing clearwing moths (Sesiidae), castniid moths (Castniidae) and little bear moths (Brachodidae). There is evidence from head and thoracic morphology that the first two families, internally feeding in plants as caterpillars, are sisters, whilst some brachodids are known to feed on leaf surfaces. Sesioidea is closely related to Cossoidea, which contains the also internal-feeding Goat and Leopard moths, and recent taxonomic treatments consider the sessoid families as part of Cossoidea sensu lato.
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.
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 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.
Lypusidae is an obscure family of moths placed in the superfamily Gelechioidea.
Pterolonchidae is a small family of very small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. There are species native to every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
The insect order Lepidoptera consists of moths, most of which are night-flying, and a derived group, mainly day-flying, called butterflies. Within Lepidoptera as a whole, the groups listed below before Glossata contain a few basal families accounting for less than 200 species; the bulk of Lepidoptera are in the Glossata. Similarly, within the Glossata, there are a few basal groups listed first, with the bulk of species in the Heteroneura. Basal groups within Heteroneura cannot be defined with as much confidence, as there are still some disputes concerning the proper relations among these groups. At the family level, however, most groups are well defined, and the families are commonly used by hobbyists and scientists alike.
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 mimica is a tiny moth of the family Batrachedridae known from Hawaii.
Perittia is a genus of moths of the family Elachistidae.
Coelopoeta is a relatively divergent genus of small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea, which have only been found in western North America.
Coelopoeta glutinosi is a tiny species of moth in the superfamily Gelechioidea. It is found in California in the United States.
Syringopais temperatella, the cereal leaf miner or wheat leaf miner, is a very small sized moth of the family Pterolonchidae. It is found on Cyprus and in Greece and the Near East. It is an important pest in cereal grain fields in some areas.
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.
Data related to Epimarptidae at Wikispecies