The Monotrysia are a group 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
lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...
n
order, not currently considered to be a natural group or
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
. Apart from the recently discovered
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 ...
Andesianidae, most of the group consists of small, relatively understudied species. The group is so named because the female has a single
genital
A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...
opening for mating and laying eggs, in contrast to the rest of the Lepidoptera (Ditrysia), which have two female reproductive openings.
[Dugdale, J.S. (1974). Female genital classification in the classification of Lepidoptera. ''New Zealand Journal of Entomology'', 1(2): 127-146]
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They comprise all of the group
Heteroneura
Heteroneura is a natural group (or clade) in the insect order Lepidoptera that comprises over 99% of all butterflies and moths. This is the sister group of the infraorder
Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ran ...
apart from the Ditrysia.
See also
*
References
Further reading
*Davis D. R. (1999). The Monotrysian Heteroneura. Pages 65–90 in: Lepidoptera: Moths and Butterflies. 1. Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbook of Zoology Vol. IV, Part 35. N. P. Kristensen, ed. De Gruyter, Berlin and New York.
External links
Neolepidoptera
Obsolete arthropod taxa
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