Gracillariidae

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Gracillariidae
Gracillaria.syringella.7325.jpg
Privet leaf miner, Gracillaria syringella (Fabricius, 1794)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Gracillarioidea
Family: Gracillariidae
Stainton, 1854
Subfamilies

 Genera - see "Subfamilies and genera"

Diversity [1]
About 101 genera and 1,866 species
Phyllocnistis magnoliella in magnolia leaf. Phyllocnistis magnoliella caterpillar. leaf mine.jpg
Phyllocnistis magnoliella in magnolia leaf.

Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella.

Contents

Taxonomy and systematics

There are 98 described genera of Gracillariidae (see below). A complete checklist is available of all currently recognised species. [2] There are many undescribed species in the tropics but there is also an online catalogue of Afrotropical described species [3] ; the South African fauna is quite well known. Although Japanese and Russian authors have recognised additional subfamilies, [2] there are three currently recognised subfamilies, Phyllocnistinae of which is likely to be basal. In this subfamily, the primitive genus Prophyllocnistis from Chile feeds on the plant genus Drimys (Winteraceae), and has leaf mines structurally similar in structure to fossils (see "Fossils"). [4] While there have been some recent DNA sequence-based studies of Palaearctic species [5] [6] there is need for a satisfactory modern global phylogenetic framework for the subfamilies of Gracillariidae. Some genera are very large, e.g. Acrocercops, Caloptilia, Cameraria, Epicephala and Phyllonorycter.

Distribution

Gracillariidae occur in all terrestrial regions of the world except Antarctica.

Identification

These generally small (wingspan 5–20 mm) moths are leaf miners as caterpillars, [7] which can provide a useful means of identification, especially if the hostplant is known. The subfamilies differ by the adult moth resting posture (Davis and Robinson, 1999). Most Gracillariinae rest with the front of the body steeply raised; Lithocolletinae and Phyllocnistinae rest with the body parallel to the surface; in Lithocolletinae often with the head lowered.

Some additional features can be seen under close examination. The antennal flagellomeres of adults have two rows of scales: a basal row with large scales covering an apical row with smaller scales. The male genitalia has only four pair of muscles and lacks a gnathos. The female ovipositor is short and laterally flattened. [8]

Life history

Most larval Gracillariidae undergo hypermetamorphosis, meaning there is a major change within the larval stage. Early instars have a flattened head and body, modified mandibles, and lack functional spinnerets or legs; these feed on sap. [8] [9] Later instars are cylindrical with round heads, and have chewing mouthparts, legs and functional spinnerets; these feed on plant tissue. [8] [9] Some species additionally have a spinning instar that does not feed, and others have a non-feeding instar before this spinning instar. [9]

The Brazilian Spinivalva gaucha is an exception to this trend, lacking a sap-feeding stage. [10]

Gracillariidae have various lifestyles. Some larvae mine leaves while others instead roll leaves, and there are also larvae which mine other plant parts or form galls. [9]

Larval hostplants

Many host plants are known, generally dicotyledonous trees or shrubs. [11] Patterns of hostplant shifting have been inferred for many United Kingdom species in the genus Phyllonorycter and its sister genus Cameraria. [6] A recent DNA sequencing study mainly of Palaearctic species has shown that the burst of evolutionary adaptive radiation occurred long after that of the larval hostplants, rather than demonstrating a tight coevolutionary process. [5]

Fossils

The family is an old one, with fossil Phyllocnistinae mines known from 97-million-year-old rocks in Kansas and Nebraska. [12] There are other fossil mines known from rocks of Eocene and Miocene age. [2] There are also two adult moths known from Lithuanian or Baltic amber of Eocene age: Gracillariites lithuanicus Kozlov, 1987 and G. mixtus Kozlov, 1987. [2]

Subfamilies and genera

Phylogeny of Gracillariidae
Gracillariidae
from Li et al. 2022
Horse-chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella) tree damage in Parma, Italy 10 Pest damage - horse-chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella) in Parma, Italy.jpg
Horse-chestnut leaf miner ( Cameraria ohridella ) tree damage in Parma, Italy

Gracillariidae phylogeny has been revised in 2017 and is now containing eight subfamilies: [13]

Unplaced species

Related Research Articles

Hypermetamorphosis, or heteromorphosis, is a term used mainly in entomology; it refers to a class of variants of holometabolism, that is to say, complete insect metamorphosis. Hypermetamorphosis is exceptional in that some instars, usually larval instars, are functionally and visibly distinct from the rest. The differences between such instars usually reflect transient stages in the life cycle; for instance, one instar might be mobile while it searches for its food supply, while the following instar immediately sheds its locomotory organs and settles down to feed until it is fully grown and ready to change into the reproductive stage, which in turn, does not have the same nutritional requirements as the larvae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horse-chestnut leaf miner</span> Species of moth

The horse-chestnut leaf miner is a leaf-mining moth of the family Gracillariidae. The horse-chestnut leaf miner was first observed in North Macedonia in 1984, and was described as a new species in 1986. Its larvae are leaf miners on the common horse-chestnut. The horse-chestnut leafminer was first collected and inadvertently pressed in herbarium sheets by the botanist Theodor von Heldreich in central Greece in 1879.

Philodoria molokaiensis is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It was first described by Otto Herman Swezey in 1928. It is endemic to the Hawaiian island of Molokai.

Dextellia is a genus of moths in the family Gracillariidae.

Phyllonorycter loxozona is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from South Africa and Uganda. The record for Kenya is a misidentification of Cameraria torridella.

Borboryctis euryae is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from Japan.

Neolithocolletis pentadesma is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from Indonesia (Java), Malaysia, the Philippines (Luzon) and the Seychelles.

<i>Caloptilia cecidophora</i> Species of moth

Caloptilia cecidophora is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from Japan and Taiwan.

<i>Phyllonorycter lucidicostella</i> Species of moth

Phyllonorycter lucidicostella, lesser maple leaf blotch miner, is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from Ontario and Québec in Canada and Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maine, Michigan, New York, Vermont and North Carolina in the United States.

<i>Cameraria aesculisella</i> Species of moth

Cameraria aesculisella is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from the United States.

Cameraria macrocarpae is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known only from Manitoba, Canada.

Porphyrosela hardenbergiella is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. First identified in a suburban garden in Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand in 1955 feeding on Hardenbergia, the species was likely introduced from Australia, although no members of the species have been found there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithocolletinae</span> Subfamily of moths

Lithocolletinae is a subfamily of insects in the moth family Gracillariidae. It is distributed worldwide, with most species in temperate regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gracillariinae</span> Subfamily of moths

Gracillariinae are a subfamily of moths which was described by Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1854.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllocnistinae</span> Subfamily of moths

Phyllocnistinae is a subfamily of insects in the moth family Gracillariidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acrocercopinae</span> Subfamily of moths

Acrocercopinae is a subfamily of moths described by Akito Yuji Kawahara and Issei Ohshima in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marmarinae</span> Subfamily of moths

Marmarinae is a subfamily of moths described by Akito Yuji Kawahara and Issei Ohshima in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parornichinae</span> Subfamily of moths

Parornichinae is a subfamily of moths described by Vladimir Ivanovitsch Kuznetzov and Svetlana Vladimirovna Baryshnikova in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oecophyllembiinae</span> Subfamily of moths

Oecophyllembiinae is a subfamily of moths described by Pierre Réal and Alfred Serge Balachowsky in 1966.

Callicercopinae are a subfamily of moths which was described by Li, Ohshima & Kawahara in 2022.

References

  1. ↑ "Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness - Lepidoptera" (PDF). mapress.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Prins, Willy De; Prins, Jurate De (1998-01-01). World Catalogue of Insects. Vol. 6. ISBN   978-87-88757-64-4. Archived from the original on 2023-09-30. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
  3. ↑ Archived 2007-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Donald R. Davis (1 May 1994). "New leaf-mining moths from Chile, with remarks on the history and composition of Phyllocnistinae (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae)". Tropical Lepidoptera. 5 (1): 65–75. hdl:10088/20928. ISSN   1048-8138. Wikidata   Q110143832.
  5. 1 2 Lopez-Vaamonde C; Wikström N; Labandeira C; Godfray HC; Simon J. Goodman; James M Cook (1 July 2006). "Fossil-calibrated molecular phylogenies reveal that leaf-mining moths radiated millions of years after their host plants". Journal of Evolutionary Biology . 19 (4): 1314–1326. doi:10.1111/J.1420-9101.2005.01070.X. ISSN   1010-061X. PMID   16780532. Wikidata   Q42036997.
  6. 1 2 Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde; H. Charles J. Godfray; James M. Cook (2003). "EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS OF HOST-PLANT USE IN A GENUS OF LEAF-MINING MOTHS". Evolution . 57 (8): 1804–1821. doi:10.1554/02-470. ISSN   0014-3820. Wikidata   Q57381916.
  7. ↑ "Gracillariidae". Archived from the original on 2007-03-24. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
  8. 1 2 3 Kawahara, Akito Y.; Plotkin, David; Ohshima, Issei; Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos; Houlihan, Peter R.; Breinholt, Jesse W.; Kawakita, Atsushi; Xiao, Lei; Regier, Jerome C.; Davis, Donald R.; Kumata, Tosio; Sohn, Jae-Cheon; De Prins, Jurate; Mitter, Charles (2017). "A molecular phylogeny and revised higher-level classification for the leaf-mining moth family G racillariidae and its implications for larval host-use evolution". Systematic Entomology. 42 (1): 60–81. Bibcode:2017SysEn..42...60K. doi:10.1111/syen.12210. ISSN   0307-6970.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Li, Xuankun; St Laurent, Ryan; Earl, Chandra; Doorenweerd, Camiel; van Nieukerken, Erik J.; Davis, Donald R.; Johns, Chris A.; Kawakita, Atsushi; Kobayashi, Shigeki; Zwick, Andreas; Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos; Ohshima, Issei; Kawahara, Akito Y. (2022). "Phylogeny of gracillariid leaf-mining moths: evolution of larval behaviour inferred from phylogenomic and Sanger data". Cladistics. 38 (3): 277–300. doi:10.1111/cla.12490. ISSN   0748-3007. PMID   34710244.
  10. ↑ Brito, Rosangela; Gonçalves, Gislene; Vargas, Hector; Moreira, Gilson (2013-04-17). "A new Brazilian Passiflora leafminer: Spinivalva gaucha, gen. n., sp. n. (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae, Gracillariinae), the first gracillariid without a sap-feeding instar". ZooKeys (291): 1–26. Bibcode:2013ZooK..291....1B. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.291.4910 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   3677287 . PMID   23794860.
  11. ↑ "HOSTS - the Hostplants and Caterpillars Database at the Natural History Museum".[ permanent dead link ]
  12. ↑ C C Labandeira; D L Dilcher; D R Davis; D L Wagner (6 December 1994). "Ninety-seven million years of angiosperm-insect association: paleobiological insights into the meaning of coevolution". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 91 (25): 12278–82. Bibcode:1994PNAS...9112278L. doi:10.1073/PNAS.91.25.12278. ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   45420 . PMID   11607501. Wikidata   Q24564423.
  13. ↑ Kawahara, A. Y.; Plotkin, D.; Ohshima, I.; Lopez-Vaamonde, C.; Houlihan, P. R.; Breinholt, J. W.; Davis, D. R.; Kumata, T.; Sohn, J.-C.; De Prins, J.; Mitter, C. (2017). "A molecular phylogeny and revised higher-level classification for the leaf-mining moth family Gracillariidae and its implications for larval host-use evolution". Systematic Entomology. 42 (1): 60–81. Bibcode:2017SysEn..42...60K. doi: 10.1111/syen.12210 .
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