Acanthopteroctetidae is a small family of primitive moths with two described genera, Acanthopteroctetes and Catapterix, and a total of seven described species.[a] They are known as the archaic sun moths.
| Acanthopteroctetidae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Acanthopteroctetidae Davis, 1978 |
| Genera and species | |
Acanthopteroctetes Braun, 1921
Catapterix Zagulajev & Sinev, 1988
| |
| Diversity | |
| 7 described species in 2 genera + 2 undescribed species | |
As of 2002, the Acanthopteroctetidae were classified as sole family in superfamily Acanthopteroctetoidea and infraorder Acanthoctesia.[2] Based on more recent research, they may instead be included (alongside the Neopseustidae and the Aenigmatineidae) in superfamily Neopseustoidea.[1]: 675, 681
Morphology
Moths in this superfamily are usually small (but one is 15 mm. in wingspan) and iridescent. Like other "homoneurous" Coelolepida and non-ditrysian Heteroneura, the ocelli are lost. There are a variety of unique structural characteristics,[3] and are evolutionary distinctive.[4] The female adults of both Catapterix crimaea[5] and C. tianshanica[6] are unknown.
Diversity and distribution
Four of the species of type genus Acanthopteroctetes (A. aurulenta, A. bimaculata, A. tripunctata and A. unifascia) are very localised in Western North America,[7] while its fifth species (A. nepticuloides) was described from South Africa.[8] Genus Catapterix has two species, of which Catapterix crimaea has been observed in Crimea and southern France,[5] while Catapterix tianshanica is known from Kyrgyzstan.[6]
In addition, two taxa are known to exist but have so far not been formally described: one from the Andes in Peru,[3]: 54 [1]: 691 and one from China.[1]: 691
Taxonomy
Around the start of the century, they were considered the fifth group up on the comb of branching events in the extant lepidopteran phylogeny,[9]: 10 and also deemed to represent the most basal lineage in the lepidopteran group Coelolepida[10] (along with Lophocoronoidea and the massive group "Myoglossata") characterised in part by its scale morphology.[3]: 53–54
Research on the molecular phylogeny of the Lepidoptera since then has indicated a close relation between the Acanthopteroctetidae, the Neopseustidae and the Aenigmatineidae,[1]: 672–681 and the three may be considered part of a single superfamily Neopseustoidea rather than three separate, monobasic superfamilies.[1]: 681 Molecular data from the same research showed weak support for the clade Coelolepida, and weakly contradicted the placement of Acanthopteroctetidae as most basal lineage of the Coelolepida.[1]: 676
Genus Catapterix was originally described within its own family, Catapterigidae,[11][12] which is considered a junior synonym of Acanthopteroctidae,[13] with which it shares specialised structural features including similar wing morphology (in A. unifascia).[4]: 1255
Biology
Data on the species in Acanthopteroctetidae are scarce. Of the seven described species, only Acanthopteroctetes unifascia has a full description of the larval stage available.[1]: 691 [6] Other than a single record of a specimen tentatively identified as Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata,[1]: 691 the larvae of the remaining species in both genera are unknown.
Acanthopteroctetes unifascia larvae are leaf-miners on the shrub genus Ceanothus (Rhamnaceae).[3] They form blotch-shaped mines and overwinter as larva, after which feeding continues in spring.[1] Pupation occurs in a cocoon on the ground.[3] The adult moths emerge during spring and are diurnal.
The specimen tentatively identified as Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata was recorded from a leaf mine on a Ribes sp. (Grossulariaceae).[1]: 691
Conservation
As of September 2022[update], none of the species in Acanthopteroctetidae have been evaluated by the IUCN.[14]
Footnotes and references
Further reading
- Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders, edited by Christopher O'Toole, ISBN 1-55297-612-2, 2002
External links
