Primeval moths

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Primeval moths
Micropterix aureatella

Micropterix aureatella

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Subordination : Zeugloptera
Superfamily : Micropterigoidea
Family : Primeval moths
Scientific name of the  subordination
Zeugloptera
Chapman , 1917
Scientific name of the  superfamily
Micropterigoidea
Herrich-Schäffer , 1855
Scientific name of the  family
Micropterigidae
Herrich-Schäffer , 1855
A primeval moth ( Micropterix aruncella ) eats pollen grains. (Video, 1m 36s)

The primeval moths (Micropterigidae) are a family of butterflies (Lepidoptera). They are the only family within the Zeugloptera, which represent the most primitive subordination of butterflies. They occur worldwide with approx. 100 kinds . They are very similar to the caddis flies (Trichoptera), to which the butterflies are most closely related. In contrast to them, however, the moths have scaled wings. The pupae are also more similar to those of caddis flies. The limbs, wings and antennae are not glued to the body, they are so-called free dolls ( pupa libera ) and not mummy dolls .

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 7 to 15 millimeters and have an elongated body shape. The forewings are 2.5 to 4 times longer than wide and are predominantly colored with a metallic sheen or at least have metallic patterns. The basic color is usually bronze or grayish bronze. The hind wings are about the same width as the fore wings and in some species have very long fringes. The moths have a conspicuous head of hair, which is also found in the families of the longhorn moths (Adelidae) and the trap moths (Eriocraniidae). The thread-like antennae are medium-long and about 0.6 to 0.9 times as long as the forewings. In addition to the compound eyes , the primeval moths also have two point eyes ( ocelli ). They are the only butterflies that instead of a suction pipe consisting of short chewing mouth parts maxilla and normal trained mandibles possess. They can use it to eat pollen . Their five-segment maxillary palps are well developed, their labial palps are only partially, in some species they are short or strongly regressed. All six legs are well developed and suitable for walking, and they have a double pair of spurs on the posterior sides of the tibia .

The wing veins of both wing pairs are the same: They each have 11 to 14 wing veins with two anal veins (1b and 1c).

The caterpillars have little in common with those of other butterfly caterpillars . They are white and have a pair of legs on each segment, which consist of a conical shaft that ends at a point. Thus, they are the only caterpillars with developed, real belly legs .

Way of life

The moths can be found on the flowers of herbs, shrubs and trees during the day.

Systematics

The primeval moth family is represented in Europe with 46 species, of which 15 species occur in Central Europe :

On December 15, 2015, the ORF reported online about the discovery of a new species:

The moth is only 7–8 mm tall and has a metallic gold and purple color. It bites and chews pollen with its chew and has been found on the flowers of roses and sun rose . It occurs at an altitude of 1600 m and only flies in sunshine.

Fossil evidence

The oldest confirmed fossil evidence of an ancient moth comes from Lebanon amber (approx. 130 million years, Lower Cretaceous ). The assignment of a much older insect from the Upper Triassic South Africa to this family is controversial. Other finds from the Cretaceous Period were made in Canadian, Burmese and Siberian amber , among others . In addition, representatives of this family can be found in the Eocene Baltic amber (40 to 50 million years old) and amber from the somewhat younger deposit near Bitterfeld . Under the amber inclusions there are both larvae and adults.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Micropterigidae. Fauna Europaea, accessed January 4, 2006 .
  2. ↑ Micropterigidae. Lepiforum eV, accessed on January 4, 2006 .
  3. ↑ Robert Trush, Susanne Lanckowsky, Axel Steiner: faunistics to join - Landesdatenbank butterflies. In: LUBW State Institute for Environment, Measurements and Nature Conservation Baden-Württemberg (ed.), Naturschutz-Info (magazine), 2013, issue 1, pages 32–35, Karlsruhe 2013, LUBW publication no. (Print): P9-133 BR. Article as PDF version online (0.4 MB) , journal as PDF version online (3.6 MB) , accessed March 25, 2014.
  4. ↑ http://tirol.orf.at/news/stories/2747522/ Tyrolean experts discover alpine primeval butterflies, orf.at December 15, 2015, accessed December 15, 2015.
  5. ^ EF Rieck: A new collection of insects from the Upper Triassic of South Africa . Ann. Natal Museum. 22, pp. 791-820, cited in Poinar 1992
  6. ↑ George O. Poinar, Jr .: Life in Amber . 350 pp., 147 figs., 10 plates, Stanford University Press, Stanford (Cal.) 1992. ISBN 0-8047-2001-0
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Weitschat and Wilfried Wichard: Atlas of plants and animals in Baltic amber , 256 p., Numerous. Fig., Pfeil-Verlag, Munich 1998. ISBN 3-931516-45-8
  8. ↑ Wolfram Mey: The primeval moths (Lepidoptera, Micropterigida) of Bitterfeld amber in the context of the history of their collection and analysis , in: Excursion. f. and publ. DGG, 249: pp. 36–44, Hannover 2013

literature

  • Thomas Kaltenbach, Peter Victor Küppers: Small butterflies. Verlag J. Neudamm-Neudamm, Melsungen 1987, ISBN 3-7888-0510-2

Web links

Commons : Primeval Moths  - Collection of images, videos and audio files