Prodoxidae

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Prodoxidae
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Adeloidea
Family: Prodoxidae
Riley, 1881
Genera

Greya
Lampronia
Mesepiola
Parategeticula
Prodoxoides
Prodoxus (syn: Agavenema )
Tegeticula
Tetragma

Contents

Diversity [1]
About 9 genera and 98 species

The Prodoxidae are a family of moths, generally small in size and nondescript in appearance. They include species of moderate pest status, such as the currant shoot borer, and others of considerable ecological and evolutionary interest, such as various species of "yucca moths".

Description and affinities

Lampronia corticella Lampronia corticella1.jpg
Lampronia corticella

Prodoxidae are a family of primitive monotrysian Lepidoptera. Some of these small-to-medium-sized moths are day flying, like Lampronia capitella , known to European gardeners as the currant shoot borer. [2] Others occur in Africa and Asia. The other common genera are generally confined to dry areas of the United States. Tetragma gei feeds on mountain avens ( Geum triflorum ) in the US. Greya politella lay eggs in the flowers of Saxifragaceae there. Prodoxoides asymmetra occurs in Chile and Argentina, [3] but all other prodoxid moth genera have a northern distribution. The enigmatic genus Tridentaforma is sometimes placed here and assumed to be close to Lampronia , while other authors consider it incertae sedis among the closely related family Adelidae.

Yucca moths and coevolution

"Yucca moths" have a remarkable biology. They are famous for an old and intimate relationship with Yucca plants and are their obligate pollinators as well as herbivores. [4] Interactions of these organisms range from obligate mutualism to commensalism to outright antagonism. Their bore holes are a common sight on trunks of such plants as the soaptree yucca. Two of the three yucca moth genera in particular, Tegeticula and Parategeticula , have an obligate pollination mutualism with yuccas. Yuccas are only pollinated by these moths, and the pollinator larvae feed exclusively on yucca seeds; the female moths use their modified mouthparts to insert the pollen into the stigma of the flowers, after having oviposited in the ovary, where the larvae feed on some (but not all) of the developing ovules. This obligate pollination mutualism is similar to the mutualistic relationship between the senita cactus and the senita moth. [5] Species of the third genus of yucca moths, Prodoxus , are not engaged in the pollination mutualism, nor do the larvae feed on developing seeds. Their eggs are deposited in fruits and leaves, where they eat and grow, not emerging until fully mature. One species of yucca moth, Tegeticula intermedia, betrays this obligate mutualism by not pollinating the yucca while still laying its eggs on the host plant, cheating the yucca out of any benefits from this relationship. [6]

Coevolution is particularly important in evolutionary biology as it demonstrates increased genetic variance between two organisms that have strong interactions, resulting in increased fitness generally for both species. In an effort to further investigate the traits that have evolved as a result of coevolution, Pellmyr and his team utilized a phylogenetic framework to observe the evolution of active pollination and specializing effects of the yucca moths which eventually lead to the loss of nectar in the genus of yucca plants, requiring them to have Prodoxidae moths around to reproduce. The moths in this case, specifically Tegeticula and Parategeticula, pollinate yucca flower purposefully, and lay their eggs in the flowers. The larvae of the moths rely on yucca seeds as nourishment and this is also cost inflicted on the plants to maintain the mutualism. After setting up a test experiment which involved pairing species of Prodoxidae with different host plants, the results have shown that moths that were able to develop a pollination-type relationship with the new plant species were more successful and would better be able to reproduce than moths that were unable to do so. [4] [7]

Another study takes a look at coevolution as a primary driver of change and diversification in the yucca moth and the Joshua tree, more commonly known as the yucca palm. The researchers tested this hypothesis by setting up a differential selection of two species of yucca moths and two corresponding species of yucca palms which they pollinate. The study showed floral traits involving pollination evolved substantially more rapidly than other flower features. The study then looks at phylogeny and determines that coevolution is the major evolutionary force behind diversification in the yucca palms when pollinated moths were present. The researchers of the Joshua tree show that setting up phylogenetic patterns using maximum likelihood techniques, can be a powerful tool to analyze the divergence in species. [8]

Researchers have again tried to demonstrate the absolute minimal level of evolution needed to secure a yucca plant and moth mutualism. The researchers attempt to find an answer as to how integral coevolution was as the driving force behind various adaptions between the yucca moth and plant species. Phylogenetic examination was also used here to reconstruct the trait evolution of the pollinating yucca moths and their non-mutualistic variants. Certain mutualistic traits have predated the yucca moth-plant mutualism, such as larval feeding in the floral ovary; however, it suggests that other key traits linked to pollination were indeed a result of coevolution between the two species. It is integral to reiterate here that key traits such as tentacular appendages which help in pollen collection and pollinating behaviors evolved as a result of coevolution during a mutualism between moths and host plants. After collecting genetic information from dozens of differing Prodoxidae moths, including ones involved in ideal mutualisms such as Tegeticula, and mapping these extracted sequences using the BayesTraits clade forming algorithm, conclusions could be drawn about trait formation that differentiated the monophylum or clade of strict obligate pollinators in the family Prodoxidae from other moths that did not undergo mutualism. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Yucca</i> Genus of flowering plants belonging to the agave and Joshua tree subfamily

Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the Americas and the Caribbean in a wide range of habitats, from humid rainforest and wet subtropical ecosystems to the hot and dry (arid) deserts and savanna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coevolution</span> Two or more species influencing each others evolution

In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for two traits in the same species affecting each other's evolution, as well as gene-culture coevolution.

<i>Breynia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Breynia is a plant genus in the family Phyllanthaceae, first described in 1776. It is native to Southeast Asia, China, the Indian Subcontinent, Papuasia, Australia, and the island of Réunion.

<i>Glochidion</i> Genus of flowering plants

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.

<i>Tegeticula yuccasella</i> Species of moth

Tegeticula yuccasella, the yucca moth, is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. The species was first described by Charles Valentine Riley in 1872. It can be found in North America from Texas to southern Canada.

<i>Upiga</i> Genus of moths

Upiga is a monotypic moth genus described by Hahn William Capps in 1964. The genus is placed in the family Crambidae, but has also been placed in Pyralidae. It contains only one species, Upiga virescens, the senita moth, described by George Duryea Hulst in 1900 and found in the Sonoran Desert of North America.

<i>Tegeticula</i> Genus of moths

Tegeticula is a genus of moths of the family Prodoxidae, one of three genera known as yucca moths; they are mutualistic pollinators of various Yucca and Hesperoyucca species.

<i>Epicephala</i> Genus of moths

Epicephala is a genus of moths in the family Gracillariidae.

<i>Lampronia capitella</i> Species of moth

The currant shoot borer moth is a species of moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in most of central, northern and eastern Europe. It is also found in North America.

Parategeticula is a genus of moths of the family Prodoxidae, one of three genera known as yucca moths; they are mutualistic pollinators of various Yucca species.

Parategeticula martella is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in southern Coahuila, Mexico.

Tegeticula californica is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found along the coast of southernmost California, United States.

Tegeticula tehuacana is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in Mexico in Oaxaca, western- and south-western Veracruz, and central-northern Puebla centred on the Tehuacan Valley.

Tegeticula tambasi is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in Mexico from northern central San Luis Potosí south-east to Querétaro, and south-westward beyond Morelia, Michoacán.

Tegeticula baja is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in Mexico on the Baja California Peninsula.

Tegeticula intermedia is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. Along with other moth species, it is commonly known as a yucca moth. T. intermedia lives in North America, particularly the United States. The moth resides in the southwest, the Great Plains, the Southeast, and mid-Atlantic. It also has been found much farther north in regions of Canada like Ontario and Alberta. There are also notable populations present in New Mexico. Their habitats are diverse and vary in terms of climate, landscape, and other factors. The moth lives in sand dunes, forests, glades, grassland, desert, and forests from the East Coast to the Southwest. Yucca moths have developed a strong mutualism with the yucca plant, such that both depend on each other for survival. The yucca moths and yucca plants have coevolved over millions of years. However, Tegeticula intermedia differs from most yucca moths in that it exhibits cheating behavior by laying eggs without pollinating the yucca plant.

Tegeticula corruptrix is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in North America in south-western California, Arizona, New Mexico, northern Coahuila, western and southern Texas, Colorado, Alberta, the western plains of Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. The habitat consists of grassland, shrub desert, rocky hillsides, open pine forests and shrubby grassland.

Tegeticula cassandra is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in north-central Florida and bordering areas of Georgia. The habitat consists of open pine and pine-oak forests and open grassy areas with oak scrub.

Parategeticula ecdysiastica is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains of the Cape region of Baja California, Mexico

Tegeticula antithetica is a species of moth in the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the Mojave Desert of the North American southwest, specifically southern California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and western Arizona.

References

  1. ↑ van Nieukerken EJ, Kaila L, Kitching IJ, Kristensen NP, Lees DC, Minet J, et al. (2011). Zhang Z (ed.). "Order Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758" (PDF). Zootaxa. Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness. 3148: 212–221.
  2. ↑ "Currant Shoot Borer Lampronia capitella". UKMoths. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  3. ↑ Nielsen, Ebbe Schmidt; Davis, Donald R. (1985). "The first southern hemisphere prodoxid and the phylogeny of the Incurvarioidea (Lepidoptera)". Systematic Entomology. 10 (3): 307–322. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.1985.tb00140.x. S2CID   86821657.
  4. 1 2 Pellmyr, Olle; Thompson, John N.; Brown, Johnathan M.; Harrison, Richard G. (1996). "Evolution of pollination and mutualism in the yucca moth lineage". American Naturalist. 148 (5): 827–847. doi:10.1086/285958. JSTOR   2463408. S2CID   84816447.
  5. ↑ Holland, J. Nathaniel; Fleming, Theodore H. (1999-09-01). "Mutualistic interactions between Upiga virescens (Pyralidae), a pollinating seed-consumer, and Lophocereus schottii (Cactaceae)" (PDF). Ecology. 80 (6): 2074–2084. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[2074:mibuvp]2.0.co;2. hdl: 1911/21700 . ISSN   1939-9170.
  6. ↑ Marr, Deborah L.; Brock, Marcus T.; Pellmyr, Olle (2001-08-01). "Coexistence of mutualists and antagonists: exploring the impact of cheaters on the yucca – yucca moth mutualism". Oecologia. 128 (3): 454–463. Bibcode:2001Oecol.128..454M. doi:10.1007/s004420100669. hdl: 2022/24397 . ISSN   0029-8549. PMID   24549915. S2CID   6432027.
  7. ↑ Groman, Joshua D.; Pellmyr, Olle (2000). "Rapid evolution and specialization following host colonization in a yucca moth". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 13 (2): 223–236. doi: 10.1046/j.1420-9101.2000.00159.x . S2CID   84556390.
  8. ↑ Godsoe, William; Yoder, Jeremy B.; Smith, Christopher Irwin; Pellmyr, Olle (2008-04-04). "Coevolution and divergence in the Joshua tree/yucca moth mutualism". The American Naturalist. 171 (6): 816–823. doi:10.1086/587757. JSTOR   10.1086/587757. PMID   18462130. S2CID   12410715.
  9. ↑ Yoder, Jeremy B.; Smith, Christopher Irwin; Pellmyr, Olle (2010-08-01). "How to become a yucca moth: minimal trait evolution needed to establish the obligate pollination mutualism". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 100 (4): 847–855. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01478.x. PMC   2922768 . PMID   20730026.
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