Sematuridae is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
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
lepidopteran
order that contains two
subfamilies (
Minet and
Scoble, 1999).
Taxonomy, systematics, and identification
These are large day- or night-flying moths, usually tailed and similar to
Uraniidae
The Uraniidae are a family of moths containing four subfamilies, 90 genera, and roughly 700 species. The family is distributed throughout the tropics of the Americas, Africa and Indo-Australia.Carter, David, ''Eyewitness Handbook to Butterflies ...
in general appearanc
(except for the
genera ''Apoprogones'', ''Anuropteryx'' and ''Lonchotura''). The position of this family is not certain amongst the
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 monophy ...
but it is usually considered to belong to the
superfamily Geometroidea
The Geometroidea are the superfamily of geometrid moths in the order Lepidoptera. It includes the families Geometridae, Uraniidae, Epicopeiidae, Sematuridae, and the recently established family Pseudobistonidae.
The monotypic genus ''Apoprogones
...
, whilst the identity of its closest
extant relative is under investigation using
DNA sequencing
Until recently very little has been known of sematurid biology (but see
Sematurinae
Sematurinae is a subfamily of moths in the family Sematuridae represented by at least 29 species in the Neotropics.
Taxonomy, classification and identification
Sematurinae has three principal genera, and possibly another two. The hindwing of ''C ...
). The "chaetosemata" of Sematuridae have long
setae
In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for " bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms.
Animal setae
Protostomes
Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. ...
overhanging the
compound eyes
A compound eye is a visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells which distin ...
, the antennae are thickened towards the often rather
clubbed
''Clubbed'' is a 2008 British drama film about a 1980s factory worker who takes up a job as a club doorman, written by Geoff Thompson and directed by Neil Thompson.
Plot
In 1984, Danny - a lonely factory worker intimidated by life - is batter ...
or hooked tip whilst a
tympanal organ
A tympanal organ (or tympanic organ) is a hearing organ in insects, consisting of a membrane ( tympanum) stretched across a frame backed by an air sac and associated sensory neurons. Sounds vibrate the membrane, and the vibrations are sensed by ...
for hearing is always absent and there are other diagnostic characters in the
abdomen
The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...
(Minet and Scoble, 1999: 305-307; Holloway et al., 2001).
Distribution
Apoprogoninae is represented by a single species in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
whilst
Sematurinae
Sematurinae is a subfamily of moths in the family Sematuridae represented by at least 29 species in the Neotropics.
Taxonomy, classification and identification
Sematurinae has three principal genera, and possibly another two. The hindwing of ''C ...
is represented by about 29 (41 including the genera ''Anurapteryx'' and ''Lonchotura'') species in the
Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bioge ...
.
Such an apparently
relictual distribution might relate to the geological split of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, but there is as yet no evidence for the age of
evolutionary
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
divergence of
Neotropical
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bioge ...
and
Afrotropical representatives; moreover, new
genetic material would be needed for the
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
n
taxon
In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...
as well as the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
genera ''Anurapteryx'' and ''Lonchotura'' for a modern molecular approach to this problem to succee
References
*Holloway, J.D., Kibby, G and Peggie, D. (1997). ''The families of Malesian moths and butterflies''. Fauna Malesia Handbooks. 455 pp. Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden.
*Minet, J. and Scoble, M. J. (1999)
998
Year 998 ( CMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – Otto III retakes Rome and restores power in the papal city. Crescenti ...
The Drepanoid/Geometroid Assemblage. Pp. 301–320 in Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.), ''Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1, Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography''. Handbook of Zoology, vol. IV, Arthropoda: Insecta, Part 35: 491 pp. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1935965
Moth families