The Micronoctuini are a
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
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
Erebidae
The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...
that includes about 400 described
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
. Typical species in the tribe have
bifine hindwing venation (unlike most of the related subfamily
Hypenodinae
The Hypenodinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae. Adult moths of most species of this subfamily lack small, simple eyes near the large, compound eyes and have quadrifine (four-veined) hindwing cells. The micronoctuid moths are a ...
) and are smaller than those in other
noctuoid moths. ''
Micronoctua karsholti'' is the smallest of all species in the superfamily
Noctuoidea
Noctuoidea is the superfamily of noctuid (Latin "night owl") or "owlet" moths, and has more than 70,000 described species, the largest number of for any Lepidopteran superfamily. Its classification has not yet reached a satisfactory or stable st ...
.
Taxonomic history
Before the initial description of the tribe as the family Micronoctuidae in 2005, about 20 species were described in the families
Arctiidae
The Arctiinae (formerly called the family Arctiidae) are a large and diverse subfamily of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species.Scoble, MJ. (1995). ''The Lepidoptera: Form, Function and D ...
(now
Arctiinae
The Arctiinae (formerly called the family Arctiidae) are a large and diverse subfamily of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species.Scoble, MJ. (1995). ''The Lepidoptera: Form, Function and D ...
),
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...
,
Nolidae
Nolidae is a family of moths with about 1,700 described species worldwide. They are mostly small with dull coloration, the main distinguishing feature being a silk cocoon with a vertical exit slit. The group is sometimes known as tuft moths, aft ...
(now
Nolinae
Nolinae is a subfamily of the moth family Nolidae. The subfamily was erected by Charles Théophile Bruand d'Uzelle in 1846. They resemble some Arctiidae in appearance.
Genera
Former genera
* ''Melaleucia'' – transferred to Erebidae
...
) and
Pyralidae
The Pyralidae, commonly called pyralid moths, snout moths or grass moths, are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many (particularly older) classifications, the grass moths (Crambidae) are included in the Pyrali ...
. The first species now referable to the tribe were named by Walker in 1863. Species of this tribe are rare in collections, possibly because most species are drably coloured (often a unicolorous brown, grey, or black) and are extremely small. Furthermore,
lepidopterist
Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian.
Origins
Post-Renaissance, t ...
s specialising in
macrolepidoptera
Macrolepidoptera is a group within the insect order Lepidoptera. Traditionally used for the larger butterflies and moths as opposed to the "microlepidoptera", this group is artificial. However, it seems that by moving some taxa about, a monoph ...
ignore these species, thinking they belong to the
microlepidoptera
Microlepidoptera (micromoths) is an artificial (i.e., unranked and not monophyletic) grouping of moth families, commonly known as the 'smaller moths' (micro, Lepidoptera). These generally have wingspans of under 20 mm, and are thus harder to ...
instead, while microlepidopterists collect them but usually classify them with unknown miscellaneous microlepidoptera.
An extensive, four-part revision of the Micronoctuidae was published by Michael Fibiger from 2007 to 2011 (see References section), describing dozens of species for their first time and classifying them into subfamilies and tribes. A subsequent series of studies of the higher-level classification of the superfamily
Noctuoidea
Noctuoidea is the superfamily of noctuid (Latin "night owl") or "owlet" moths, and has more than 70,000 described species, the largest number of for any Lepidopteran superfamily. Its classification has not yet reached a satisfactory or stable st ...
showed that the phylogenetic placement of Micronoctuidae is as a clade within the subfamily
Hypenodinae
The Hypenodinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae. Adult moths of most species of this subfamily lack small, simple eyes near the large, compound eyes and have quadrifine (four-veined) hindwing cells. The micronoctuid moths are a ...
of the family
Erebidae
The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...
.
This reclassification moved Micronoctuidae to the tribe Micronoctuini, its subfamilies to subtribes, and presumably its original tribes to infratribes.
Distribution
The Micronoctuini are only known from the
Old World
The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
, mainly in the tropics and subtropics, but also in the temperate zone of eastern Asia. They inhabit many different
biotope
A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term "habitat", which is more commonly used in English-speaking countrie ...
s, including sand deserts, stone deserts, semi-deserts, grass steppes, bush steppes, steppes with bushes and trees, savannah, open dry forests, dense dry forests, moist always deciduous forests and rainforests. They are found from
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
in Africa to
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
in the Pacific and from the
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...
to
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and northern
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Subtribes (former subfamilies)
*
Belluliina Fibiger, 2008
*
Magnina Fibiger, 2008
*
Micronoctuina
The Micronoctuina are a subtribe of moths of the family Erebidae
The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known ...
Fibiger, 2005
*
Parachrostiina Fibiger, 2008
*
Pollexina Fibiger, 2007
*
Tactusina Fibiger, 2010
*
Tentaxina Fibiger, 2011
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q19591080
Hypenodinae
Moth tribes