''Chedra microstigma'' is a tiny

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Batrachedridae The Batrachedridae are a small family of tiny moths. These are small, slender moths which rest with their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies. Taxonomy The taxonomy of this and related groups is often disputed. This group was first propos ...

described in 1907. It has only been found on

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

. It has been found feeding on sedges, plants belonging to the

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...

family, and its larvae host at least three species of

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

s in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Taxonomy

It was first described by Lord Walsingham in 1907 as ''Batrachedra microstigma'' from specimens collected at in altitude in the Waianae Mountains of

Robert Cyril Layton Perkins Robert Cyril Layton Perkins Royal Society, FRS (15 November 1866 – 29 September 1955) was a distinguished British entomologist, ornithologist, and naturalist noted for his work on the fauna of the islands of Hawaii and on Hymenoptera. He is n ...

, and moved to the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Chedra ''Chedra'' is a genus of tiny moths, belonging to the family Batrachedridae. Taxonomy Ron Hodges created the genus in 1966 to accommodate three new species: two from North America and one from Chile. These he found very similar to the genus ' ...

'' by Elwood Zimmerman in 1978. Upon closer examination of the original

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

, Zimmerman determined that Walsingham had in fact collected two species, and described the new species '' Chedra mimica'' from some of those same specimens. Otto Herman Swezey collected larvae at a coastal marshland near the city of

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

known as 'Kewalo', now long lost to development, which he then reared to adult moths. These

August Busck Augustus Busck (February 18, 1870 – March 7, 1944) was a Danish-American entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Entomology. He is best known for his work with microlepidoptera, of which he described over ...

then described as ''Batrachedra cuniculator'', which Zimmerman synonymised in 1978. Zimmerman re-designated a

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

from amongst the original type series. The type for ''Batrachedra cuniculator'' is kept at

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. Zimmerman moved the entire ''Chedra'' genus, including this species, to the

Momphinae The Momphidae, or mompha moths, is a family of moths with some 115 described species. It was described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1857. These moths tend to be rather small with a wingspan of up to 21 mm. The wings are he ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

of the

Gelechiidae The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy has been subject to considerable dis ...

in 1978.

Ron Hodges Ronald Wray Hodges (born June 22, 1949) is a former catcher in Major League Baseball, who spent his entire 12-year career with the New York Mets. Hodges was originally draft (sports), drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth round of the 19 ...

classified ''Chedra'' in the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family

Coleophoridae __NOTOC__ The Coleophoridae are a family of small moths, belonging to the huge superfamily Gelechioidea. Collectively known as case-bearers, casebearing moths or case moths, this family is represented on all continents, but the majority are found ...

in his 1983 ''Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico'', but in 1999 he placed in the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family

Distribution

It was described from

, but is seen as possibly an introduced species. This is due to remarks by Swezey when he collected the types for the taxon ''Batrachedra cuniculator'' near Honolulu. According to him it was odd that he had not noticed the species at an earlier date, despite having lived in Hawaii for a few years. When Zimmerman moved that taxon to his reclassified ''Chedra microstigma'', he further remarked that besides the two ''Chedra'' species he had just classified as such, the genus ''Chedra'' was at that point only known from the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

, which meant the presence of the genus on Hawaii could be considered a

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

oddity. At present, however, a new species has been discovered in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, ''C. fimbristyli'', which is certainly native to those islands. & , 1993: ''Chedra fimbristyli'' n. sp. ein minierender Kleinschmetterling an ''Fimbrystylis'' ssp (Cyperaceae) auf Leyte, Philippinen (Lepidoptera: Batrachedridae). ''Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift'' N.F. 40(1): 181-186. Abstract: Zimmerman further theorised that the mode of invasion may have been the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, which posted a large number of horses and mules on Oahu after the USA usurped the native government in 1893, and imported a large amount of hay and

silage Silage () is a type of fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation to the point of acidification. It can be fed to cattle, sheep and other such ruminants (cud-chewing animals). The fermentation and storage p ...

from the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

of North America as

provender Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (includ ...

for this stock, in which stalks the caterpillars may have hitched a ride. Note, however, that this was only around a decade before Lord Walsingham collected his type series in the island interior.

Ecology

Swezey collected the larvae feeding on '' Cyperus laevigatus'' and ''

Scirpus maritimus ''Bolboschoenus maritimus'' is a species of flowering plant from family Cyperaceae. Common names for this species include sea clubrush, cosmopolitan bulrush, alkali bulrush, saltmarsh bulrush, and bayonet grass. It is found in seaside wetland hab ...

''. They

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

the leaves and bore the stems of their host plants. Zimmerman reported finding the

s '' Bracon swezeyi'', '' Chelonus blackburni'' and '' Trathala flavo-orbitalis'' infesting this moth species in Hawaii.

Citations

Batrachedridae Moths described in 1907 {{Batrachedridae-stub