''Epicephala'' (leafflower moths) is a genus of

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 ...

s in the family

Gracillariidae Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, ''Camerar ...

. ''Epicephala'' is of note in the fields of

pollination biology Anthecology, or pollination biology, is the study of pollination as well as the relationships between flowers and their pollinators. Floral biology is a bigger field that includes these studies. Most flowering plants, or angiosperms, are pollinat ...

and coevolution because many species in this genus are pollinators of plants in the genera ''

Glochidion ''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 P ...

'', ''

Phyllanthus ''Phyllanthus'' is the largest genus in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. Estimates of the number of species in this genus vary widely, from 750David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book.'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University P ...

'', and ''

Breynia ''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. The name ''Breynia'' is a conserved name, it ...

'' (

Phyllanthaceae Phyllanthaceae is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae.Kenneth J. Wurdack and Charles C. Davis. 2009. "Malpighiales phylogenetics: Gaining ground on one of the m ...

). These pollinating ''Epicephala'' actively pollinate the flowers of their host plants—thereby ensuring that the plants may produce viable seeds—but also lay eggs in the flowers' ovaries, where their larvae consume a subset of the developing seeds as nourishment.Kawakita, A.; Kato, M. (2009) "Repeated independent evolution of obligate pollination mutualism in the Phyllantheae-''Epicephala'' association." ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B.'' 276: 417–426. This relationship is similar to other specialized pollinating seed-predation mutualisms such as those between

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

and

fig wasp Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside figs. Most are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, while the ...

s and

yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial plant, perennial shrubs and trees in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their Rosette (botany), rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped Leaf, ...

s and yucca moths. Other species of ''Epicephala'' consume the seeds of species of ''

'' or ''

Flueggea ''Flueggea'', the bushweeds, is a genus of shrubs and trees in the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1806. It is widespread across much of Asia, Africa, and various oceanic islands, with a few species in South America and on th ...

'' (

) as larvae, but do not pollinate their host plants as adults. At least some of these species have evolved from pollinating ancestors.Kawakita, A.; Kato, M. 2009. "Repeated independent evolution of obligate pollination mutualism in the Phyllantheae-''Epicephala'' association." ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B.'' 276: 417–426.

Species

*'' Epicephala acrobaphes'' (Turner, 1900) *'' Epicephala acrocarpa'' Meyrick, 1927 *'' Epicephala albifrons'' (Stainton, 1859) *'' Epicephala albistriatella'' (Turner, 1894) *'' Epicephala ancistropis'' Meyrick, 1935 *'' Epicephala ancylopa'' Meyrick, 1918 *'' Epicephala angustisaccula'' Li, 2015 *'' Epicephala anthophilia'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 *'' Epicephala australis'' (Turner, 1896) *'' Epicephala bathrobaphes'' Turner, 1947 *'' Epicephala bipollenella'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012Zhang, J., Hu, B., Wang, S. & Li, H. (2012). "Six new species of ''Epicephala'' Meyrick, 1880 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) associated with Phyllanthaceae plants." ''Zootaxa'' 3275: 43-54. *'' Epicephala bromias'' Meyrick, 1910 *'' Epicephala calasiris'' Meyrick, 1908 *'' Epicephala camurella'' Li, 2015 *'' Epicephala colymbetella'' Meyrick, 1880 *'' Epicephala corruptrix'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 *'' Epicephala domina'' Li, 2015 *'' Epicephala epimicta'' (Turner, 1913) *'' Epicephala eriocarpa'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012 *'' Epicephala euchalina'' Meyrick, 1922 *'' Epicephala eugonia'' Turner, 1913 *'' Epicephala exetastis'' Meyrick, 1908 *'' Epicephala flagellata'' Meyrick, 1908 *'' Epicephala frenata'' Meyrick, 1908 *'' Epicephala haplodoxa'' Vári, 1961 *'' Epicephala homostola'' Vári, 1961 *'' Epicephala impolliniferens'' Li, 2015 *'' Epicephala jansei'' Vári, 1961 *'' Epicephala laeviclada'' Li, 2015 *''

Epicephala lanceolaria ''Epicephala lanceolaria'' is a leafflower moth of the family Gracillariidae. The only known host of the larva is ''Glochidion lanceolarium'' which is pollination, pollinated by the imago (flying moth). Distribution The moth is endemism, endemic ...

'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012 *'' Epicephala lanceolatella'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 *'' Epicephala lativalvaris'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012 *'' Epicephala lomatographa'' Turner, 1913 *'' Epicephala microcarpa'' Li, 2015 *'' Epicephala mirivalvata'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012 *'' Epicephala nephelodes'' Turner, 1913 *'' Epicephala nudilingua'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 *'' Epicephala obovatella'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 *'' Epicephala orientale'' (Stainton, 1856) *'' Epicephala parasitica'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 *'' Epicephala pelopepla'' Vári, 1961 *'' Epicephala periplecta'' (Diakonoff, 1955) *'' Epicephala perplexa'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 *'' Epicephala pyrrhogastra'' Meyrick, 1908 *'' Epicephala relictella'' Kuznetzov, 1979 *'' Epicephala scythropis'' Meyrick, 1930 *'' Epicephala sphenitis'' Meyrick, 1931 *'' Epicephala spinula'' Clarke, 1986 *'' Epicephala spumosa'' Turner, 1947 *'' Epicephala squamella'' Kuznetzov & Baryshnikova, 2001 *'' Epicephala stauropa'' Meyrick, 1908 *'' Epicephala strepsiploca'' Meyrick, 1918 *'' Epicephala subtilis'' Meyrick, 1922 *'' Epicephala tephrostola'' Vári, 1961 *'' Epicephala tertiaria'' Li, 2015 *'' Epicephala trigonophora'' (Turner, 1900) *'' Epicephala venenata'' Meyrick, 1935 *'' Epicephala vermiformis'' Meyrick, 1936 *'' Epicephala vitisidaea'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012 *'' Epicephala zalosticha'' Turner, 1940

References

External links

Global Taxonomic Database of Gracillariidae (Lepidoptera)Youtube video of an ''Epicephala lanceolaria'' pollinating a host ''Glochidion lanceolarium'' flower
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5382502 Gracillariinae Gracillarioidea genera