Moth moth

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Pyraloidea
Meatbone (Pyralis farinalis)

Meatbone ( Pyralis farinalis )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Subclass : Flying insects (Pterygota)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Subordination : Glossata
Superfamily : Pyraloidea
Scientific name
Pyraloidea
Latreille , 1802

The common moth (Pyraloidea) is one of the largest superfamilies of butterflies (Lepidoptera) worldwide with around 16,000 described species . The presumed number of species is about double that.

features

The shape and drawing of the wings and the posture of the moths vary. Their forewing length ranges from 5 to 75 millimeters, but the majority of the species has a wing length less than 15 millimeters. In Central Europe, the boxwood moth and Ostrinia palustralis with fore wing lengths of around 20 millimeters are among the largest representatives of the moth. Most species have labial palps , maxillary palps and a proboscis on the head . Characteristics that establish the monophyly of this group are the structure of the paired tympanic organs on the ventral side of the second abdominal segment (only a few species have regressed or no tympanic organs), the proboscis is scaled at the base, the veins R 3 and R 4 are the fore wings united with one another at the base or along their entire length and in the hind wing the united veins Sc + R 1 are approximated to the vein Rs or united with it basally .

The eggs are flattened, egg- or lenticular-shaped and have a thin shell that is only inconspicuously structured.

Occurrence

Species of the Pyraloidea can be found all over the world, also on remote islands, such as the Azores or Hawaii archipelagos, as well as from the coast to the nival zone of the high mountains . They are only missing in Antarctica . As with many other groups of organisms, most of the species are found in the low and medium altitudes of the tropics , with the Neotropics having most of the species as well as the Chrysauginae , Linostinae and Midilinae that only occur there . Some species were distributed worldwide by humans, such as B. Plodia interpunctella . Some species-rich genera, such as Udea from the subfamily Spilomelinae or Eudonia of the Scopariinae, are widespread with endemic species both on the continents and on remote islands of the oceans. Other genera are distributed over an entire climate zone , such as Agathodes and Synclera of the Spilomelinae, in the tropics of the Old and New World.

Way of life

The caterpillars of primitive species of the Pyralidae feed on fungi and / or dry or rotting animal or vegetable materials. The oligophagous caterpillars of some primitive Crambidae feed on cryptogams such as algae , mosses , ferns and lichens . It is assumed that the adaptation of the most primitive species of moths to these original plant groups occurred because the moths already existed at a geological time when seed plants had not yet developed. Regardless of this, the majority of the species in the Pyraloidea feed on naked and bedecktsamern . There are also some species that predatory feed on plant lice and other insects, or live as parasites with and from nest-forming insects.

Among the butterflies, the species of the Pyraloidea show one of the greatest breadth of different ways of life. The vast majority of caterpillars in the superfamily live in hiding. They roll, fold or weave leaves together, build tunnels or tubes out of sand, excrement or spun silk, drill into branches, roots, shoots, buds, fruits, seeds or plant galls , live as miners or hide in insect nests. The caterpillars of the subfamily Acentropinae are even adapted to life underwater.

The moths and man

Some species are considered pests to be taken seriously in agriculture , forestry , stock management and beekeeping . These include the European corn borer ( Ostrinia nubilalis ) in agriculture , the resin borer of the genus Dioryctria in forestry, the flour moth ( Ephestia kuehniella ) and the dried fruit moth ( Plodia interpunctella ) in beekeeping and the small wax moth ( Achroia grisella ) in beekeeping .

Only a few species are considered to be directly useful for humans; these are mostly those species that are used against weeds in the course of biological pest management.

Hazard and protection

In the past, moths were mainly viewed from the perspective of their economic importance for humans. In Central Europe, these are the pests in agriculture, forestry, stock management and beekeeping. In Germany alone there are 272 species of the common moth. Of these, 18 species can be classified as neozoa . Of the remaining 254 species, 114 species (44.7%) are on the Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany.

Systematics

The structure of the tympanic organs varies within the common moth. There are two types of building plans, each with several distinct features. These two types of building plans are interpreted as two distinct evolutionary lines, which in zoology are initially classified as Pyraliformes and Crambiformes and later as two families:

This early splitting of the common moth into two large groups is confirmed by molecular genetic studies. In old classifications based on similarities, the families of the Pterophoridae , Thyrididae , Tineodidae , Hyblaeidae , Oxychirotidae , Alucitidae and Dudgeoneidae were also assigned to the Pyraloidea . However, these have no tympanic organs and some are not even directly related to the moths.

The works by Hannemann (1964) and Slamka (1995) as well as the Lepiforum's identification aid are particularly suitable for determining the Central European species. Older works such as Eckstein's (1933) or the adaptations of Great Britain's moth butterflies by Goater (1986) and Sterling, Parsons & Lewington (2012) are only suitable to a limited extent for the determination of Central European species because most of the species found in Central Europe are not contain.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Trusch et al .: Red list and total list of species of Spanner, Owl Moth and Sickle-winged Germany . In: M. Binot-Hafke, S. Balzer, N. Becker et al. (Ed.): Red list of endangered animals, plants and fungi in Germany . 1st edition. tape 3 : Invertebrates (Part 1). Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 2011, ISBN 978-3-7843-5231-2 , p. 325-370 .
  2. ^ Systematics of the Pyraloidea
  3. ↑ EG Munroe: Pyraloidea, Pyralidae comprising subfamilies Scopariinae, Nymphulinae. In: RB Dominick et al: The Moths of America north of Mexico. 13.1 A 13.1 A., EW Classey and RBD Publications, London 1972, pp. 1-134.
  4. ^ J. Minet: Les Pyraloidea et leurs principales divisions systématiques (Lep. Ditrysia). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, Paris. 86, 1982, 1981, pp. 262-280.
  5. ↑ EG Munroe, MA Solis: The Pyraloidea. In: NP Kristensen: Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, systematics, and biogeography. In: M. Fischer (Ed.): Handbook of Zoology. Insecta, Part, Volume IV Arthropoda 35. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1998, pp. 233-256.
  6. ↑ JC Regier, C. Mitter, MA Solis, JE Hayden, B. Landry, M. Nuss, TJ Simonsen, S.-H. Yen, A. Zwick, MP Cummings: A molecular phylogeny for the pyraloid moths (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) and its implications for higher-level classification. In: Systematic Entomology, London. 37 (4), 2012, pp. 635-656.
  7. ↑ H.-J. Hannemann: Small butterflies or Microlepidoptera II. The curlers (sl) (Cochylidae and Carposinidae). The moth-like (Pyraloidea). In: F. Dahl: The animal world of Germany. Part 50, Gustav Fischer, Jena 1964, DNB 458345377 .
  8. ↑ F. Slamka: Die Münslerfalter (Pyraloidea) Central Europe. Bratislava 1995, ISBN 80-967167-3-5 .
  9. ↑ Identification aid for the butterfly species found in Europe - Lepiforum e. V.
  10. ^ Karl Eckstein: The butterflies of Germany. Volume 5: The Small Butterflies of Germany. KG Lutz Verlag, Stuttgart 1933.
  11. ↑ B. Goater: British Pyralid Moths. Harley Books, Colchester, Essex 1986, ISBN 0-946589-08-9 .
  12. ^ P. Sterling, M. Parsons, R. Lewington: Field guide to the micro moths of Great Britain and Ireland. British Wildlife Publishing, 2012, ISBN 978-0-9564902-1-6 .

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