Batrachedra cuniculata
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Chedra microstigma'' is a tiny moth of the family
Batrachedridae The Batrachedridae are a small family of tiny moths. These are small, slender moths which rest with their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies. Taxonomy The taxonomy of this and related groups is often disputed. This group was first propos ...
described in 1907. It has only been found on Oahu. It has been found feeding on sedges, plants belonging to the
Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...
family, and its larvae host at least three species of
parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...
s in Hawaii.


Taxonomy

It was first described by Lord Walsingham in 1907 as ''Batrachedra microstigma'' from specimens collected at in altitude in the
Waianae Mountains Waianae () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 13,614. Its name means "waters of the mullet". Its etymology is shared with the far northern Wellington subu ...
of Oahu by Robert Cyril Layton Perkins, and moved to the genus ''
Chedra ''Chedra'' is a genus of tiny moths, belonging to the family Batrachedridae. Taxonomy Ron Hodges created the genus in 1966 to accommodate three new species: two from North America and one from Chile. These he found very similar to the genus ' ...
'' by
Elwood Zimmerman Elwood Curtin Zimmerman (December 8, 1912 – June 18, 2004) was an American entomologist best known for his two multivolume series: ''Insects of Hawaii'' published by the University of Hawaii Press and ''Australian Weevils (Coleoptera: Curcul ...
in 1978. Upon closer examination of the original
type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...
, Zimmerman determined that Walsingham had in fact collected two species, and described the new species '' Chedra mimica'' from some of those same specimens.
Otto Herman Swezey Otto Herman Swezey (7 June 1869 – 3 November 1959) was an American entomologist who was an expert on the insects of Hawaii, especially the Lepidoptera. He described numerous species and many, like the psyllid genus '' Swezeyana'', have been name ...
collected larvae at a coastal marshland near the city of Honolulu known as 'Kewalo', now long lost to development, which he then reared to adult moths. These
August Busck Augustus Busck (February 18, 1870 – March 7, 1944) was a Danish-American entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Entomology. He is best known for his work with microlepidoptera, of which he described over ...
then described as ''Batrachedra cuniculator'', which Zimmerman synonymised in 1978. Zimmerman re-designated a holotype from amongst the original type series. The type for ''Batrachedra cuniculator'' is kept at National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution. Zimmerman moved the entire ''Chedra'' genus, including this species, to the
Momphinae The Momphidae, or mompha moths, is a family of moths with some 115 described species. It was described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1857. These moths tend to be rather small with a wingspan of up to 21 mm. The wings are he ...
subfamily 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 ...
of the family Gelechiidae in 1978. Ron Hodges classified ''Chedra'' in the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family Coleophoridae in his 1983 ''Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico'', but in 1999 he placed in the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family
Batrachedridae The Batrachedridae are a small family of tiny moths. These are small, slender moths which rest with their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies. Taxonomy The taxonomy of this and related groups is often disputed. This group was first propos ...
.


Distribution

It was described from Oahu, but is seen as possibly an introduced species. This is due to remarks by Swezey when he collected the types for the taxon ''Batrachedra cuniculator'' near Honolulu. According to him it was odd that he had not noticed the species at an earlier date, despite having lived in Hawaii for a few years. When Zimmerman moved that taxon to his reclassified ''Chedra microstigma'', he further remarked that besides the two ''Chedra'' species he had just classified as such, the genus ''Chedra'' was at that point only known from the New World, which meant the presence of the genus on Hawaii could be considered a biogeographic oddity. At present, however, a new species has been discovered in the Philippines, ''C. fimbristyli'', which is certainly native to those islands. & , 1993: ''Chedra fimbristyli'' n. sp. ein minierender Kleinschmetterling an ''Fimbrystylis'' ssp (Cyperaceae) auf Leyte, Philippinen (Lepidoptera: Batrachedridae). ''Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift'' N.F. 40(1): 181-186. Abstract: Zimmerman further theorised that the mode of invasion may have been the U.S. Army, which posted a large number of horses and mules on Oahu after the USA usurped the native government in 1893, and imported a large amount of hay and silage from the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...
of North America as
provender Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (includ ...
for this stock, in which stalks the caterpillars may have hitched a ride. Note, however, that this was only around a decade before Lord Walsingham collected his type series in the island interior.


Ecology

Swezey collected the larvae feeding on ''
Cyperus laevigatus ''Cyperus laevigatus'' is a species of sedge known by the common name smooth flatsedge. Distribution ''Cyperus laevigatus'' is grows in wet areas, especially in brackish water, wet alkaline soils, mineral-rich hot springs, and other moist saline ...
'' and ''
Scirpus maritimus ''Bolboschoenus maritimus'' is a species of flowering plant from family Cyperaceae. Common names for this species include sea clubrush, cosmopolitan bulrush, alkali bulrush, saltmarsh bulrush, and bayonet grass. It is found in seaside wetland hab ...
''. They
mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...
the leaves and bore the stems of their host plants. Zimmerman reported finding the
parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...
s ''
Bracon swezeyi Bracon is a hamlet in North Lincolnshire, England. Bracon lies within the Isle of Axholme and the civil parish of Belton, a village to the north to which the hamlet is conjoined. Villages in the Borough of North Lincolnshire { ...
'', ''
Chelonus blackburni ''Chelonus'' is a wasp genus in the subfamily Cheloninae. Their larvae feed chiefly on larvae of moths in superfamilies Tortricoidea and Pyraloidea.Shaw, S.R. 1997. Subfamily Cheloninae. Species * ''Chelonus abditus'' * ''Chelonus abductor ...
'' and '' Trathala flavo-orbitalis'' infesting this moth species in Hawaii.


Citations

Batrachedridae Moths described in 1907 {{Batrachedridae-stub