|
Alucitoidea
Aluctoidea is the superfamily of many-plumed and false plume moths. These small moths are most easily recognized by their wings. These each consist of many (typically more than 3) narrow strips of membrane around the major veins, instead of a continuous sheet of membrane between the veins. In living moths in the wild, this is often hard to see however. When they are at rest, the "plumes" partly overlap, appearing as solid wings. But even then, they can be recognized by the wings having a marked lengthwise pattern and uneven edge. They contain two families at most: * Alucitidae – many-plumed moths * Tineodidae – false plume moths Sometimes, only one family is accepted, Tineodidae being merged into Alucitidae with the Alucitoidea thus becoming monotypic. Most of the roughly 160 described species in the superfamily belong to the many-plumed moths; these include a few rather widespread genera. The false plume moths consist of numerous small and well-distinct lineages; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tineodidae
__NOTOC__ The Tineodidae or false plume moths are a family of moths with in some cases unusually modified wings: Like in some related moths, the wings of several Tineodidae are decomposed into several rigid spines. This is a small family, with about a global total of 20 species described to date; some undescribed species are known or suspected to exist however. They seem to be of Australian origin, where they are most diverse, but range through the Wallacea to Southeast and South Asia, and into the Pacific to the Marquesas Islands. Description and ecology These moths are usually small (with wingspans around 1–2 cm/less than 1 inch) and brownish in color. They have large compound eyes, thread-like antennae, and prominent labial palps. The body is slender, and the legs bear large spines.. The amount of wing modification varies in this family. Some genera (e.g. '' Cenoloba'', '' Oxychirota'' and '' Tanycnema'') resemble plume moths ( superfamily Pterophoroidea), hence the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twenty-plume Moth
''Alucita hexadactyla'' (twenty-plume moth) is a "micromoth" of the many-plumed moth family ( Alucitidae). It is found in Eurasia. It was previously thought to also occur in North America, but a 2004 study showed that the North American species are distinct and separate. Description The wingspan is 14–16 mm. Unlike a typical moth, which has two pairs of scaly wings, ''Alucita'' has about twenty thin feathery plumes (with scales on the supporting ribs). It perches with the wings outspread like a fan. The wings have a bold zigzag pattern in white, black and brown, which together with the shiny backward-pointing hairs on each plume make the adult moth distinctive. It is also popularly known as the many-plumed moth, while the specific name ''hexadactyla'' comes from the Greek for six-fingered. Single brooded, it can be found at any time of the year. It is common and often found in gardens, but is readily overlooked because of its small size. The larvae feed on honeysuckl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fringe-tufted Moth
Epermeniidae or the fringe-tufted moths is a family of insects in the lepidopteran order with about 14 genera. Previously they have been divided in two subfamilies Epermeniinae and Ochromolopinae (e.g. Common, 1990: 321) but this is no longer maintained since the last group is probably hierarchically nested within the first (Dugdale et al., 1999). They are presently placed in their own superfamily but have previously been placed among the Yponomeutoidea or Copromorphoidea with which they share some features. Their systematic placement among the apoditrysian group "Obtectomera" (having pupal segments I-IV immobile) is however uncertain. They show some morphological similarities to the "plume moths" (Alucitoidea and Pterophoroidea), for example the wing fringe has similar groups of scales (Dugdale et al., 1999). There are also some similarities to Schreckensteinioidea, for example spiny legs and at least in some species an open-network cocoon. The genus ''Thambotricha'' from N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apoditrysia
The Ditrysia are a natural group or clade of insects in the lepidopteran order containing both butterflies and moths. They are so named because the female has two distinct sexual openings: one for mating, and the other for laying eggs (in contrast to the Monotrysia). About 98% of described species of Lepidoptera belong to Ditrysia. As larvae, they initially feed on plants until they grow to become adults and feed on nectar. Distrysian lineage by the ones that live and cater from the host plant, or even the ones that live outside the plant constructing their own shelter. They function as herbivores, pollinators, and prey in terrestrial ecosystems, while also being extremely damaging to the development of agriculture. The Lepidoptera group can be divided into the primitive but paraphyletic "micromoths" and the derived monophyletic Apoditrysia, which include mostly larger moths, as well as the butterflies. Those with a dorsal heart vessel belong in section Cossina Cossina i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obtectomera
The Obtectomera is a clade of macro-moths and butterflies, comprising over 100,000 species in at least 12 superfamilies. Taxonomy The Obtectomera includes the following 12 superfamilies: * Whalleyanoidea Minet, 1991 * Thyridoidea Herrich-Schäffer, 1846 – picture-winged leaf moths * Hyblaeoidea Hampson, 1903 – teak moths * Calliduloidea Moore, 1877 – Old World butterfly-moths * Papilionoidea Latreille, 1802 – true butterflies * Pyraloidea Latreille, 1809 – pyraloid moths * Mimallonoidea Burmeister, 1878 – sack bearers (sometimes included Macroheterocera) * Macroheterocera Chapman, 1893 ** Drepanoidea Boisduval, 1828 – drepanids ** Noctuoidea Latreille, 1809 – owlet moths ** Geometroidea Leach, 1815 – inchworms ** Lasiocampoidea Harris, 1841 – lappet moths ** Bombycoidea Latreille, 1802 – bombycoid moths Some other superfamilies are sometimes included: * Pterophoroidea Latreille, 1802 – plume moths * Alucitoidea Leach, 1815 – many-plume moths * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fruitworm Moth
Carposinoidea, the "fruitworm moths", is a superfamily of insects in the lepidopteran order. The superfamily is also known as Copromorphoidea, which is a junior synonym. These moths are small to medium-sized (10–50 mm. in wingspan) and are broad-winged bearing some resemblance to the superfamilies Tortricoidea and Immoidea. The antennae are often "pectinate" especially in males, and many species of these well camouflaged moths bear raised tufts of scales on the wings and a specialised fringe of scales at the base of the hindwing sometimes in females only; there are a number of other structural characteristics (Common, 1990; Dugdale et al., 1999) . The position of this superfamily is not certain, but it has been placed in the natural group of "Apoditrysi"Obtectomera" (Minet, 1991), rather than with the superfamilies Alucitoidea or Epermenioidea within which it has sometimes previously been placed, on the grounds that shared larval and pupal characteristics of these group ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carpenter Moth
The Cossidae, the cossid millers or carpenter millers, make up a family of mostly large miller moths. This family contains over 110 genera with almost 700 known species, and many more species await description. Carpenter millers are nocturnal Lepidoptera found worldwide, except the Southeast Asian subfamily Ratardinae, which is mostly active during the day. This family includes many species with large caterpillars and moths with a wingspan from . These moths are mostly grey; some have long, narrow wings and resemble hawkmoths (Sphingidae) which are more advanced macrolepidoptera, however. Many are twig, bark, or leaf mimics, and Cossidae often have some sort of large marking at the tip of the forewing uppersides, conspicuous in flight, but resembling a broken-off twig when the animals are resting. Caterpillars are smooth with a few hairs. Most cossid caterpillars are tree borers, in some species taking up to three years to mature. The caterpillars pupate within their tunn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synapomorph
In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have evolved in their most recent common ancestor. ) In cladistics, synapomorphy implies homology. Examples of apomorphy are the presence of erect gait, fur, the evolution of three middle ear bones, and mammary glands in mammals but not in other vertebrate animals such as amphibians or reptiles, which have retained their ancestral traits of a sprawling gait and lack of fur. Thus, these derived traits are also synapomorphies of mammals in general as they are not shared by other vertebrate animals. Etymology The word —coined by German entomologist Willi Hennig—is derived from the Ancient Greek words (''sún''), meaning "with, together"; (''apó''), meaning "away from"; and (''morphḗ''), meaning "shape, form". Clade an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symplesiomorph
In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral Phenotypic trait, character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades. Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorphy, apomorphy and synapomorphy, apomorphy, and synapomorphy, all mean a trait shared between species because they share an ancestral species. Apomorphic and synapomorphic characteristics convey much information about evolutionary clades and can be used to define taxa. However, plesiomorphic and symplesiomorphic characteristics cannot. The term ''symplesiomorphy'' was introduced in 1950 by German Entomology, entomologist Willi Hennig. Examples A backbone is a Pleomorphism, plesiomorphic trait shared by birds and mammals, and does not help in placing an animal in one or the other of these two clades. Birds and mammals share this trait because both clades are descended from the same far distant ancestor. Other clades, e.g. snakes, lizards, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas '' homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different traits. Convergent evolution is similar to para ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrysalis
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages thereof being egg, larva, pupa, and imago. The processes of entering and completing the pupal stage are controlled by the insect's hormones, especially juvenile hormone, prothoracicotropic hormone, and ecdysone. The act of becoming a pupa is called pupation, and the act of emerging from the pupal case is called eclosion or emergence. The pupae of different groups of insects have different names such as ''chrysalis'' for the pupae of butterflies and ''tumbler'' for those of the mosquito family. Pupae may further be enclosed in other structures such as cocoons, nests, or shells. Position in life cycle The pupal stage follows the larval stage and precedes adulthood (''imago'') in insects with complete metamorp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Symphyta) are commonly called caterpillars as well. Both lepidopteran and symphytan larvae have eruciform body shapes. Caterpillars of most species eat plant material ( often leaves), but not all; some (about 1%) eat insects, and some are even cannibalistic. Some feed on other animal products. For example, clothes moths feed on wool, and horn moths feed on the hooves and horns of dead ungulates. Caterpillars are typically voracious feeders and many of them are among the most serious of agricultural pests. In fact, many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricultural produce, whereas the moths are obscure and do no direct harm. Conversely, various species of cate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
