Platychasmatinae is a small

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

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

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 ...

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 ...

Notodontidae Notodontidae is a family of moths with approximately 3,800 known species. The family was described by James Francis Stephens in 1829. Moths of this family are found in all parts of the world, but they are most concentrated in tropical areas, espe ...

. Only two

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

are placed here at present: * ''

Cyphanta Cyphanta or Kyphanta ( grc, τὰ Κύφαντα) was a town on the eastern coast of ancient Laconia, belonging to the Eleuthero-Lacones. It was in ruins in the time of Pausanias (2nd century), but from the notice of it in other writers, it was evi ...

'' Walker, 1865 * '' Platychasma'' Butler, 1881 Though not all Notodontidae have been assigned to subfamilies yet, it is unlikely that many of these genera ''

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 ...

'' will turn out to be Platychasmatinae, as thus family is a rather ancient and distinct group. In fact, a newly discovered species of ''Platychasma'' is somewhat intermediate between the two genera, suggesting that this subfamily might actually be

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

References

* Notodontidae {{Notodontidae-stub