Agathiphaga
| Agathiphaga | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the subordination | ||||||||||||
| Aglossata | ||||||||||||
| Speidel , 1977 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the superfamily | ||||||||||||
| Agathiphagoidea | ||||||||||||
| Kristensen , 1967 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Agathiphagidae | ||||||||||||
| Kristensen , 1967 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Agathiphaga | ||||||||||||
| Dumbleton , 1952 |
Kauri moths ( Agathiphaga ) are a genus of butterflies , they are the only representatives of the original family Agathiphagidae. Because of their isolated position, they are even placed in their own superfamily Agathiphagoidea, and in their own subordination Aglossata. Next to the Micropterigidae , they are usually considered to be the most pristine living (recent) group of butterflies. Most authors consider the Heterobathmiidae + Glossata taken together as their sister group. The two species live in the Southwest Pacific.
features
Agathiphaga characterized by a whole series of original features out, including the absence of a suction nozzle (Proboscis) and the presence of mandibles . The legs have the spore formula 1-4-4, the protibial spur and the central spur on the mid-tibia are unique plesiomorphies within the order Lepidoptera . The moths are similar to caddis flies (Trichoptera) and like these they keep their antennae straight forward when they are at rest. They are medium-sized, with wingspans up to 25 millimeters; their wings are cryptically colored, marbled brown, and are kept steeply roof-shaped in the resting position. They have enormously large, asymmetrical mandibles, each with a thorn and a cup-shaped, hollowed-out end process with a sawn edge. The egg, the young caterpillar and the number of larval stages are unknown. The adult caterpillars are legless, maggot-shaped miners .
Distribution and way of life
Agathiphaga vitiensis Dumbleton, 1952 occurs on some islands in the Southwest Pacific ( Fiji , Vanuatu , Solomon Islands , New Caledonia ). Agathiphaga queenslandensis Dumbleton, 1952 is known from a few rainforest locations in Australia ( Queensland ). The moths are nocturnal and so far have only been found extremely rarely in the wild. The eggs are presumed to be laid on the cones of the kauri trees ( Agathis spp., Araucariaceae ) and the young caterpillar is likely to dig into the cones. The adult caterpillars mine in the seeds and caninfestup to 50 percent of the Agathis robusta seeds in Australia in some locations, although the long-term average infestation is only 10 percent. Adult caterpillars line the walls of their feeding duct with a hardening secretion and enter an obligatory diapause , which is difficult to break. From caterpillar-covered seeds collected in February 1964, several moths hatched in April 1966 and September 1969, but some caterpillars had still not pupated at this time. In Agathiphaga vitiensis , moistening the seeds and drumming on the breeding container triggered the hatching of the butterflies 8 to 12 hours later, which suggests that heavy rainfalls and a humidity of 80 percent favor hatching outdoors. When it hatches, the pupa boresa hole in the semen with the help of its movable mandibles, half squeezes out and grabs the edge of the hole with its tarsi . Only then does the butterfly hatch while the pupa shell remains in the loophole.
swell
literature
- IFB Common: A new family of Dacnonypha (Lepidoptera) based on three new species from southern Australia, with notes on the Agathiphagidae. Journal of the Australian entomological society, 12: 11-23, 1973
- IFB Common: Moths of Australia. Carlton (Melbourne University Press) 535 pp. 1993
- LG Dumbleton: A new genus of seed-infesting micropterygid moths. Pacific Scientist, 6: 17-29, 1952
- MJ Faucheux: Antennal sensilla in adult Agathiphaga vitiensis Dumbl. and A. queenslandensis Dumbl. (Lepidoptera: Agathiphagidae). International journal of insect morphology and embryology, 19: 257-268, 1990
- NP Kristensen: The male genitalia of Agathiphaga (Lepidoptera: Agathiphagidae) and the lepidopteran ground plan. Entomologica Scandinavica, 15: 151-178, 1984
- NP Kristensen: The larval head of Agathiphaga (Lepidoptera Agathiphagidae) and the lepidopteran ground plan. Systematic entomology, 9: 63-81, 1984
- GS Robinson, KR Tuck: The kauri moth Agathiphaga. A preliminary report. London (British Museum (Nat. Hist.)), 8 pp., 1976
- TJ Simonsen, NP Kristensen: Agathiphaga wing vestiture revisited: evidence for complex early evolution of lepidopteran scales (Lepidoptera: Agathiphagidae). Insect systematics and evolution, 32: 169-175, 2001