Hyposmocoma

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Hyposmocoma
Hyposmocoma inversella.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Cosmopterigidae
Subfamily: Cosmopteriginae
Genus: Hyposmocoma
Butler, 1881
Synonyms
  • BubalocerasWalsingham, 1907
  • EuperissusButler, 1881
  • NeelysiaWalsingham, 1907
  • Hyposmochoma
  • AgonismusWalsingham, 1907
  • AphthonetusWalsingham, 1907
  • RhinomactrumWalsingham, 1907
  • DysphoriaWalsingham, 1907
  • EuhyposmocomaSwezey, 1913
  • HyperdasysellaT. B. Fletcher, 1940
  • HyperdasysWalsingham, 1907
  • PhthoraulaMeyrick, 1935
  • EuperissusButler, 1881
  • SemnoprepiaWalsingham, 1907
  • PetrochroaBusck, 1914 [1]
  • DiplosaraMeyrick, 1883

Hyposmocoma is a genus of moths with more 350 species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The genus was first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1881. Most species of Hyposmocoma have plant-based diets, but four species, such as Hyposmocoma molluscivora, eat snails. The caterpillars spin silk, which they then use to capture and eat snails. These are the first caterpillars known to eat snails (or mollusks of any kind). [2]

Contents

Some species feature amphibious caterpillars. This trait has evolved at least three times within this genus. [3]

Species

There are a number of undescribed species.

See also

Related Research Articles

Hyposmocoma molluscivora is a Hawaiian moth whose larvae are predators, capturing snails in their silk, much like a hunting spider's web, and then crawling inside the snail's shell to eat it alive. It has been called the snail-eating caterpillar or the flesh-eating caterpillar, though no common name has been widely prescribed to it.

<i>Chionodes</i> Genus of moths

Chionodes is a genus of moths of the family Gelechiidae. It is distributed throughout much of the world. The larvae of many species use the Douglas fir as a host plant.

<i>Cydia</i> (moth) Genus of tortrix moths

Cydia is a large genus of tortrix moths, belonging to the tribe Grapholitini of subfamily Olethreutinae. Its distinctness from and delimitation versus the tribe's type genus Grapholita requires further study.

<i>Omiodes</i> Genus of moths

Omiodes is a moth genus in the family Crambidae. Several species are endemic to Hawaii.

<i>Gelechia</i> Genus of moths

Gelechia is a genus of moths in the family Gelechiidae. The type species is Gelechia rhombella.

Merimnetria is a genus of moths in the family Gelechiidae. It was first described by Lord Walsingham in 1907. All species are endemic to Hawaii.

<i>Ethmia</i> Genus of moths

Ethmia is a large genus of small moths. It is the type genus of the gelechioid family Ethmiidae, which is sometimes included in Elachistidae or Oecophoridae as subfamily.

<i>Ancylis</i> Genus of tortrix moths

Ancylis is a genus of moths belonging to the subfamily Olethreutinae of the family Tortricidae.

<i>Hyposmocoma inversella</i> Species of moth

Hyposmocoma inversella is a species of moth of the family Cosmopterigidae. It was first described by Lord Walsingham in 1907. It is endemic to the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The type locality is the Waianae Range, where it was collected at an elevation of 2,000 feet (610 m).

<i>Depressaria</i> Genus of moths

Depressaria is a genus of moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. It is the type genus of subfamily Depressariinae, which is often – particularly in older treatments – considered a distinct family Depressariidae or included in the Elachistidae, but actually seems to belong in the Oecophoridae.

<i>Philodoria</i> Genus of moths

Philodoria is a genus of moths in the family Gracillariidae. All species are endemic to Hawaii. It was first described by Lord Walsingham in 1907.

<i>Caloptilia</i> Genus of moths

Caloptilia is a genus of moths in the family Gracillariidae.

<i>Ypsolopha</i> Genus of moths

Ypsolopha is a genus of moths of the family Ypsolophidae. It is the type genus of the family and comprises over 120 described species.

<i>Agonopterix</i> Genus of moths

Agonopterix is a moth genus of the superfamily Gelechioidea. It is placed in the family Depressariidae, which was often – particularly in older treatments – considered a subfamily of the Oecophoridae or included in the Elachistidae.

<i>Cerconota</i> Genus of moths

Cerconota is a genus of moths in the family Depressariidae. In 1991, I. W. B. Nye and David Stephen Fletcher included it in the family Oecophoridae and the subfamily Stenomatinae. It was later placed in the family Elachistidae and subfamily Stenomatinae by Ronald W. Hodges, in Niels Peder Kristensen (1999). Other classifications placed them in the Elachistidae or Oecophoridae, but they actually seem to belong to the Depressariidae.

<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.

<i>Carposina</i> Genus of moths

Carposina is a genus of moths in the Carposinidae family.

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

Gelechiinae is a subfamily of moths in the family Gelechiidae. It was described by Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1854.

References

  1. Busck, August (1914). "New Microlepidoptera from Hawaii". Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus. 2 (7): 104–105.
  2. Rubinoff D, Haines WP (July 2005). "Web-spinning caterpillar stalks snails". Science. 309 (5734): 575. doi:10.1126/science.1110397. PMID   16040699. S2CID   42604851.
  3. Roach, John (July 21, 2005). "Flesh-Eating Caterpillars Discovered in Hawaii". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011.