Moth

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The division of living beings into systematics is a continuous subject of research. Different systematic classifications exist side by side and one after the other. The taxon treated here has become obsolete due to new research or is not part of the group systematics presented in the German-language Wikipedia.

Reporting corridor ; a typical moth as a representative of the owl butterflies

As moths all representatives of the butterflies are called, not to the butterflies belong. Moths are a group put together according to their way of life and practical considerations, they do not form a natural unit (no taxon ) in modern biological systematics . The moths, colloquially but technically incorrectly referred to as moths (moths denote different small butterfly families in a biological sense ), were traditionally divided into the large butterflies or Macrolepidoptera and the small butterflies or Microlepidoptera. However, these groups do not form natural units either. Instead , the modern system of butterflies distinguishes four sub- orders , the Zeugloptera , Aglossata , Heterobathmiina and Glossata , with more than 99 percent of the species, including all butterflies and all large butterflies, belonging to the glossata.

The group of moths, traditionally also called heterocera ("different horns") as a systematic group, is still used and maintained as a non-natural group for purely pragmatic reasons. The largest collection of moths worldwide is in the Museum Witt in Munich .

Demarcation

All moths are by no means nocturnal ; the rams, for example, only fly when the sun is shining. The following characteristics are traditionally used to distinguish.

  • Formation of antennae : The antennae of the butterflies are thickened at the end to a club, therefore earlier called Rhopalocera or "button horns" (exception: the thick-headed butterflies ). All kinds of antennae shapes are realized in moths, often thread-like, serrated or feathered. However, there are also families with a button-shaped antennae.
  • Coloring: Butterflies are often brightly colored and colored. Most moths are camouflaged , often brown, gray or whitish. There are also numerous exceptions here.
  • Coupling of the wings : Most moths have a special mechanism by which the front and rear wings are coupled to each other in flight. A bristle called a frenulum engages in a device called a retinaculum and consists of hooks. The butterflies lack this. With them, the fore and hind wings overlap broadly (called "amplexiform" coupling) and are thereby coupled. However, there are a number of moths without a frenulum.
  • Resting posture: Most butterflies keep their wings spread out in their resting posture (outside of the flight phases), often superimposed over their backs like flags. Most moths fold the wings at the wing joint towards the body, so that they tilt like a roof over the abdomen or are spread flat on the back.
  • Shape of the front legs: In some butterfly families, the front legs are small and partially reduced, they are put on or stretched out when sitting and no longer used for walking. This occurs less often in moths.
  • Form of the pupa : In most moths the pupa stage is enclosed in a cocoon made of silk threads . Butterflies have free pupae, which either hang freely at the rear end anchored with hooks (fall pupae) or are attached by a thin silk ribbon (belt pupae).

Traditional systematics

The butterflies are very striking insects and have attracted the attention of naturalists for centuries. The first scientifically based classification comes from the founder of biological taxonomy, Carl von Linné . On the basis of the shape of the antennae, the position of the wings in the rest position and the day or night activity, he distinguished three groups (he conceived of as genera ): Papilio with all butterflies, Sphinx and Phalaena with the moths. The very large and heterogeneous genus Phalaena (which today, unlike the other two, is no longer taxonomically used), he divided into seven groups. The nine groups of Linnaeus butterflies are, in principle, still in use today as superfamilies: Papilionoidea for Papilio , Sphingoidea for Sphinx and Bombycoidea , Noctuoidea , Geometroidea , Tortricoidea , Pyraloidea , Tineoidea and Alucitoidea for the seven groups of Phalaena .

Linné's pupils and successors, especially Johann Christian Fabricius and Pierre André Latreille , expanded his system, but initially did not change the basic categories due to his high authority. The work of Gottlieb August Herrich-Schäffer (1799–1874) was significant for the higher systematics . The system, which goes back to Herrich-Schäffer and other taxonomists of the 19th century, remained binding until the early 20th century.

According to the classical, now outdated scheme of expression Heterocera for moths either for all was, or for the "Phalaenae" (which Linnaeus "genus" Phalaena met, but often the "Sphinges", ie the Linné'sche genus Sphinx , with included ) used; both were more or less what was colloquially referred to as moths.

The moths comprise about 91 percent of the butterfly species (the superfamily Papilionoidea, which includes all butterflies and the small Hedylidae family of the “moths”, the other 9 percent). There are 118 families. The following families are counted among the moths:

Web links

Commons : Moths  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Moth  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John B. Heppner: Moths (Lepidopter: Heterocera). In John L. Capinera (editor): Encyclopedia of Entomology. Springer Verlag, 2005. ISBN 978-0-7923-8670-4 on p. 2491.
  2. ↑ What are the differences between butterflies and moths? David Britton, Australian Museum, last updated 1 May 2017.
  3. ↑ Niels P. Kristensen, Malcolm J. Scoble, Ole Karsholt (2007): Lepidoptera phylogeny and systematics: the state of inventorying moth and butterfly diversity. Zootaxa 1668: 699-747.
  4. ^ Adalbert Seitz: The Macrolepidoptera of the world; a systematic description of the hitherto known Macrolepidoptera. I. Division: The Macrolepidoptera of the Palaearctic Fauna. II Volume: Bombyces and Sphinges. Verlag des Seitz'schen Werk (Alfred Kernen), Stuttgart 1913. Page 3