''Andesiana'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

representing its own

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 and

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 ...

Andesianoidea, the "Andean endemic moths". It contains three species with a wingspan up to 5.4 cm. in female ''A. similis'' and 3.5 cm. in males.Davis, D. R., & P. Gentili. (2003). Andesianidae, a new family of monotrysian moths (Lepidoptera: Andesianoidea) from South America. ''Invertebrate Systematics'', 17: 15-26
Abstract
This far surpasses in size any previously known monotrysian moth. These large Microlepidoptera

are restricted to Andean South America, from where they were described originally in 1989 in the

Cossidae by their discoverer Patricia Gentili.

Systematics

The

vein Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated b ...

"R2" in the hindwing is two-branched, suggesting that the family Andesianidae is basal to the superfamily Nepticulidae, but the way the wings are coupled suggests it had a later origination within the Monotrysia, where it can be placed based on characters of the female reproductive system. The relationships of ''Andesiana'' with representatives of other lepidopteran superfamilies is currently under investigation using DNA sequence

Morphology and identification

The Glossary of entomology terms, labial palpi have an elongated second segment, the

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

of the male hindleg has a "

hairpencil Hair-pencils and coremata are pheromone signaling structures present in lepidopteran males. Males use hair-pencils in courtship behaviors with females. The pheromones they excrete serve as both aphrodisiacs and tranquilizers to females as well as r ...

" contained in a pouch on the

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...

, and the antennae are "bipectinate" in the male and "filiform" in the female; the

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 ...

is much reduced.

Distribution

The genus is found in '' Nothofagus'' forests of Andean

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

References

Nomenclatural notes

Lepinde

accessed March 2007 incorrectly places the species "''neurotenes'' Turner 1932" from Queensland in the genus "''Andesiana'', Gentili, 1986" of which the database suggests ''Archaeoses'' Turner, 1932 (a cossi

is a junior subjective synonym. Presumably this is not to be confused with an Oecophoridae moth of the same name ''neurotenes'' described by Turner in the genus ''Antiopala'' in 1939 and currently placed in the genus ''Prepalla'

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1059011 Andesianidae Andesianidae of South America Fauna of the Andes Monotrysia genera