The Adelidae or fairy longhorn moths are a

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 ...

monotrysia The Monotrysia are a group of moths in the lepidopteran order, not currently considered to be a natural group or clade. Apart from the recently discovered family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinit ...

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 ...

infraorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

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 ...

. The family was first described by

Charles Théophile Bruand d'Uzelle Charles Théophile Bruand d'Uzelle (5 March 1808, Besançon – 3 August 1861, Besançon) was a French entomologist who specialised in microlepidoptera. He described several new species and erected the families Elachistidae, Oecophoridae and Roesler ...

in 1851. Most

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 ...

have at least partially metallic patterns coloration and are diurnal, sometimes swarming around the tips of branches with an undulating flight. Others are

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...

and have a drab coloration. Fairy longhorn moths have a wingspan of 4–28 millimeters, and males often have especially long

antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...

e, 1–3 times as long as the

forewing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwin ...

. They are widespread around the world and can be found over much of North America and Eurasia from April to June. About 50 species occur in Europe, of which most widely noted is the

green longhorn The green longhorn (''Adela reaumurella'') is a lepidopteran from the moth family Adelidae, the fairy longhorn moths. Distribution ''Adela reaumurella'' has a palearctic distribution. It occurs in southern North Europe, Western Europe through C ...

(''Adela reaumurella'') which can sometimes reach great abundance; due to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

its peak flying season is shifting towards spring. In general, they are more plentiful in the Northern Hemisphere, but the family occurs in the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

South-East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and

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 ...

too. Adelidae are usually closely restricted to particular host plants, in which the females insert their eggs or just lay among leaf litter, and the caterpillars make a case, completing their development on the ground. Fairy longhorn moths feed in sunshine on

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

from the flowers of

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

(woody) plants.

Systematics

Fairy longhorn moths belong to the

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

Adeloidea Adeloidea is a superfamily of primitive monotrysian 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 th ...

, one of the basal ("

n") branches of the advanced moth

. By

n standards, they are thus still rather primitive

micromoth 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 ...

s. But like other Heteroneura, they already possess the

apomorph In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

ic sucking

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...

– usually considered a defining feature of Lepidoptera, but the most ancestral moths still live on solid food which they chew.Davis (1999) The Adelidae were previously placed as the subfamily Adelinae within the family Incurvariidae.

Subfamilies

The Adelidae are usually divided into two

subfamilies 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 ...

, but most genera are of uncertain or basal relationships. Selected species are also listed: Longhornfairymoth

Subfamily Adelinae * ''

Adela Adela may refer to: * ''Adela'', a 1933 Romanian novel by Garabet Ibrăileanu * ''Adela'' (1985 film), a 1985 Romanian film directed by Mircea Veroiu * ''Adela'' (2000 film), a 2000 Argentine thriller film directed and written by Eduardo Mign ...

'' Latreille, 1796 ** ''

Adela croesella ''Adela croesella'' is a moth of the family Adelidae. It is found in most of Europe. The wingspan is 11–14 mm. Head ferruginous mixed with black. Antennae in male 2.5 black, tip white ; in female hardly 1.5, thickened with violet-black sc ...

'' ** ''

Adela reaumurella The green longhorn (''Adela reaumurella'') is a lepidopteran from the moth family Adelidae, the fairy longhorn moths. Distribution ''Adela reaumurella'' has a palearctic distribution. It occurs in southern North Europe, Western Europe through C ...

'' – green longhorn * '' Cauchas'' Zeller, 1839 ** ''

Cauchas rufimitrella ''Cauchas rufimitrella'' is a diurnal lepidopteran from the family Adelidae, the fairy long horn moths. It is found in almost all of Europe, except Portugal, Ukraine and the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The wingspan of the moth range ...

'' * ''

Nemophora ''Nemophora'' is a genus of the Adelidae, fairy longhorn moth family (biology), family (Adelidae). Among these, it belongs to subfamily Adelinae. Selected species * ''Nemophora ahenea'' Stringer, 1930 * ''Nemophora albiciliellus'' (Staudinger, ...

'' Illiger & Hoffmannsegg, 1798 (tentatively placed here) **''

Nemophora degeerella The longhorn moth or yellow-barred long-horn (''Nemophora degeerella'') is a Diurnality, diurnal lepidopteran from the moths family Adelidae (fairy longhorn moths). Distribution and habitat This species is present on most of Europe, but it is fa ...

'' – longhorn moth ** '' Nemophora metallica'' ** ''

Nemophora ochsenheimerella ''Nemophora ochsenheimerella'' is a moth of the family Adelidae. It is a trans- Palearctic species, which is also found in Central Europe. The wingspan is about . The moth flies in one generation from late April to June. Notes #''The flight se ...

'' Subfamily Nematopogoninae * ''

Ceromitia ''Ceromitia'' is a genus of moths in the Adelidae family. It consists of primitive moths mainly found in Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 m ...

'' Zeller, 1852 (tentatively placed here) ** ''

Ceromitia iolampra ''Ceromitia iolampra'' is a moth of the family Adelidae. It is found in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The larvae feed on the flowers of ''Acacia baileyana'' and ''Acacia genistifolia''. La ...

'' * ''

Nematopogon :"Nematopogon" ''was also invalidly established by Agassiz in 1847 as an unjustified emendation for the fungus moth genus '' Nemapogon. __NOTOC__ ''Nematopogon'' is a genus of the fairy longhorn moth family (Adelidae). Among these, it belongs t ...

'' ''

Incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' * '' Subclemensia'' * ''

Trichofrons ''Trichofrons'' is a monotypic moth genus of the family Adelidae, the fairy longhorn moths. The genus was erected by Amsel in 1937. Its sole species is ''Trichofrons pantherella'', which was first described by Achille Guenée in 1849. It is found ...

'' The genus ''

Tridentaforma ''Tridentaforma'' is a genus of moths of the Tridentaformidae family, the sole genus of the family. There is only one species in the genus (and the family), ''Tridentaforma fuscoleuca'', which is found in California and Canada. The wingspan ...

'' is sometimes placed among the Adelidae ''incertae sedis'' too; others assign it to the closely related

Prodoxidae The Prodoxidae are a family of moths, generally small in size and nondescript in appearance. They include species of moderate pest status, such as the Lampronia capitella, currant shoot borer, and others of considerable ecological and evolutiona ...

Footnotes

References

* Davis, D. R. (1999): The Monotrysian Heteroneura. ''In:'' Kristensen, N. P. (ed.): ''Handbuch der Zoologie/Handbook of Zoology'' (Volume IV – Arthropoda: Insecta. Part 35: Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies 1): 65–90. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin & New York. * Edwards, E. D. (2007): Australian Faunal Directory �
Adelidae
Version of 28 June 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2010. *

Fauna Europaea Fauna Europaea is a database of the scientific names and distribution of all living multicellular European land and fresh-water animals. It serves as a standard taxonomic source for animal taxonomy within the Pan-European Species directories Infras ...

(FE) (2009)
Adelidae
Version 2.1, 22 December 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2010. * Kuchlein, J. H. & Ellis, W. N. (2004): Climate-induced changes in the microlepidoptera fauna of the Netherlands and the implications for nature conservation. ''Journal of Insect Conservation'' 1(2): 73–80. PDF fulltext
*

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q927746 Moth families