Choreutidae - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Choreutidae, or "metalmark moths," are a family

Family

In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...

of insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s in the lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

n order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

whose relationships have been long disputed. It was placed previously in the superfamily

Taxonomic rank

In biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...

Yponomeutoidea

Yponomeutoidea is a superfamily of Ermine moths and relatives.-Familiae:*Acrolepiidae*Bedelliidae*Glyphipterigidae*Heliodinidae*Lyonetiidae*Plutellidae*Yponomeutidae*Ypsolophidae- Etymology :...

in family Glyphipterigidae and in superfamily Sesioidea

Sesioidea

Sesioidea is the superfamily currently containing clearwing moths , castniid moths and little bear moths . 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...

. It is now considered to represent its own superfamily (Minet, 1986). The relationship of the family to the other lineages in the group "Apoditrysia" http://www.tolweb.org/Apoditrysia need a new assessment, especially with new molecular data.

Distribution

The moths occur worldwide, with 19 genera in three subfamilies defined by the structural characteristics of the immature stages (larvae and pupae), rather than the characters of the adults (Heppner and Duckworth, 1981; Rota, 2005).

Behaviour

These small moths often bear metallic scales

Scale (zoology)

In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...

http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/people/rota/choreutid_genera/choreutid_genera.html and are mostly day-flying (some also come to lights), with a jerky, pivoting behaviour, and may fluff up their wings at an extreme angle. Some tropical exemplars such as the genus Saptha

Saptha

Saptha is a genus of moths in the Choreutidae family.-Species:*Saptha aeolodoxa *Saptha angustistriata *Saptha beryllitis *Saptha chrysoprasitis...

are quite spectacular, with bright green metallic bands http://www.ento.csiro.au/gallery/moths/Sapthalibanota/saptha_libanota_01. The members of the genus Brenthia

Brenthia

Brenthia is a genus of moths in the Choreutidae family.-Species:*Brenthia albimaculana *Brenthia anisopa Diakonoff, 1968*Brenthia ardens Meyrick, 1912*Brenthia buthusalis...

, usually placed in their own subfamily Brenthiinae, have eyespot

Eyespot (mimicry)

An eyespot is an eye-like marking. They are found on butterflies, reptiles, birds and fish. In members of the Felidae family , the white circular markings on the backs of the ears are termed ocelli, and they are functionally similar to eyespots in other animals.Eyespots may be a form of...

s on the wings and have been shown to mimic jumping spiders (Rota and Wagner, 2006).

Larval hostplants

Most species skeletonize leaves often among silken webbing http://www.ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=2999 whereas the western Palaearctic Millieria

Millieria

Millieria is a genus of moths in the Choreutidae family, containing only one species, Millieria dolosana, which is found from Morocco north to Germany, France and Poland, east to southern Russia and Israel....

are leaf miner

Leaf miner

Leaf miner is a term used to describe the larvae of many different species of insect which live in and eat the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths , sawflies and flies , though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.Like Woodboring beetles, leaf...

s on the plant genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

Aristolochia

Aristolochia is a large plant genus with over 500 species. Collectively known as birthworts, pipevines or Dutchman's pipes, they are the namesake of the family . They are widespread and occur in the most diverse climates. Some species, like A. utriformis and A...

. Other Millieriinae (a subfamily defined mainly on larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

l characters) feed on palms (the genus Phormoestes

Phormoestes

Phormoestes is a genus of moths in the Choreutidae family, containing only one species, Phormoestes palmettovora, which is known from Florida.The length of the forewings is 3.3-4 mm. Adults are on wing from March to May....

on Sabal

Sabal

Sabal is a genus of New World palms, many of the species being known as palmetto. They are fan palms , with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets; in some of the species, the leaflets are joined for up to half of their length...

), whilst that of the Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an genus Nyx

Nyx

In Greek mythology, Nyx was the primordial goddess of the night. A shadowy figure, Nyx stood at or near the beginning of creation, and was the mother of personified gods such as Hypnos and Thánatos...

is unknown. The foodplants of many Choreutinae occurring in the temperate region and some tropical species are known http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-curation/projects/hostplants/list.dsml?searchPageURL=index.dsml&Familyqtype=starts+with&Family=Choreutidae&PFamilyqtype=starts+with&PFamily=&Genusqtype=starts+with&Genus=&PGenusqtype=starts+with&PGenus=&Speciesqtype=starts+with&Species=&PSpeciesqtype=starts+with&PSpecies=&Country=&sort=Family, being dominated by Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

, Betulaceae

Betulaceae

Betulaceae, or the Birch Family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams and hop-hornbeams, numbering about 130 species...

, Boraginaceae

Boraginaceae

Boraginaceae, the Borage or Forget-me-not family, include a variety of shrubs, trees, and herbs, totaling about 2,000 species in 146 genera found worldwide.A number of familiar plants belong to this family....

, Dipterocarpaceae

Dipterocarpaceae

Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 500 species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus Dipterocarpus, is derived from Greek and refers to the two-winged fruit...

, Fabaceae

Fabaceae

The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

, Labiatae, Moraceae

Moraceae

Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 40 genera and over 1000 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates...

(mainly Ficus

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

), Rosaceae

Rosaceae

Rosaceae are a medium-sized family of flowering plants, including about 2830 species in 95 genera. The name is derived from the type genus Rosa. Among the largest genera are Alchemilla , Sorbus , Crataegus , Cotoneaster , and Rubus...

, Sapindaceae

Sapindaceae

Sapindaceae, also known as the soapberry family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales. There are about 140-150 genera with 1400-2000 species, including maple, horse chestnut and lychee....

and Urticaceae

Urticaceae

Urticaceae, or the nettle family, is a family of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus Urtica . Urticaceae includes a number of well-known and useful plants, including the aforementioned nettles, Ramie , māmaki , and ajlai .The family includes approximately 2600 species, grouped...

. The European "Nettle-tap Moth" Anthophila fabriciana

Anthophila fabriciana

Anthophila fabriciana is a moth of the family Choreutidae. It is known from China , the Himalaya, Mongolia, Russia, Korea, Japan , Afghanistan, Kazakhstan,...

(Linnaeus, 1767), illustrated here http://www.ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=366 is a familiar sight pirouetting around "stinging nettles" Urtica and nearby flowers while Choreutis pariana

Choreutis pariana

The Apple-and-thorn Skeletonizer or Apple Leaf Skeletonizer is a moth of the Choreutidae family. It is native to Eurasia...

http://www.ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1949 skeletonizes apple leaves. The last genus has 85 species worldwide one of which C.tigroides is a pest of "jackfruit" Artocarpus

Artocarpus

Artocarpus is a genus of about 60 trees of Southeast Asian origin and the Pacific, belonging to the mulberry family, Moraceae.-Description:...

(Dugdale et al., 1999).

Sources

Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders, edited by Christopher O'Toole, ISBN 1-55297-612-2, 2002

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.