Acanthopteroctetidae is a small

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of primitive

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

s with two described

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

, ''Acanthopteroctetes'' and '' Catapterix'', and a total of seven described

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. They are known as the archaic sun moths. As of 2002, the Acanthopteroctetidae were classified as sole family in superfamily Acanthopteroctetoidea and

infraorder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between Family_(biology), family and Class_(biology), class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classific ...

Acanthoctesia. Based on more recent research, they may instead be included (alongside the Neopseustidae and the Aenigmatineidae) in superfamily Neopseustoidea.

Morphology

Moths in this superfamily are usually small (but one is 15 mm. in wingspan) and iridescent. Like other "homoneurous"

Coelolepida Coelolepida is a clade of insects in the lepidopteran order, containing the infraorders Acanthoctesia, Lophocoronina, Neopseustina, Exoporia and Heteroneura, with the latter three grouped in clade Myoglossata. Coelolepida comprise all non- ...

and non-

ditrysia Ditrysia is a clade of lepidopterans that contains both butterflies and a majority of moth species. They are named for the fact that the female has two distinct sexual openings: one for mating, and the other for laying eggs. About 98% of know ...

Heteroneura Heteroneura is a natural group (or clade) in the insect order Lepidoptera that comprises over 99% of all butterflies and moths. This is the sister group of the infraorder Exoporia The Exoporia are a group of primitive Lepidoptera comprising ...

, the

ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

are lost. There are a variety of unique structural characteristics, and are evolutionary distinctive. The female adults of both ''Catapterix crimaea'' and ''C. tianshanica'' are unknown.

Diversity and distribution

Four of the species of type genus ''Acanthopteroctetes'' ('' A. aurulenta'', '' A. bimaculata'', '' A. tripunctata'' and '' A. unifascia'') are very localised in

Western North America Western North America is the western edge of the North American continent that borders the Pacific Ocean. It consists of Alaska at the farthest north, down through the western Canadian province of British Columbia, the western U.S. states of Wa ...

, while its fifth species ('' A. nepticuloides'') was described from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Genus '' Catapterix'' has two species, of which '' Catapterix crimaea'' has been observed in

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

and southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, while '' Catapterix tianshanica'' is known from

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

. In addition, two taxa are known to exist but have so far not been formally described: one from the Andes in Peru, and one from China.

Taxonomy

Around the start of the century, they were considered the fifth group up on the comb of branching events in the

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

, and also deemed to represent the most basal lineage in the lepidopteran group

(along with Lophocoronoidea and the massive group "Myoglossata") characterised in part by its scale morphology. Research on the

molecular phylogeny Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

of the Lepidoptera since then has indicated a close relation between the Acanthopteroctetidae, the Neopseustidae and the Aenigmatineidae, and the three may be considered part of a single superfamily Neopseustoidea rather than three separate, monobasic superfamilies. Molecular data from the same research showed weak support for the

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

Coelolepida, and weakly contradicted the placement of Acanthopteroctetidae as most basal lineage of the Coelolepida. Genus ''Catapterix'' was originally described within its own family, Catapterigidae, which is considered a junior synonym of Acanthopteroctidae, with which it shares specialised structural features including similar wing morphology (in ''A. unifascia'').

Biology

Data on the species in Acanthopteroctetidae are scarce. Of the seven described species, only ''Acanthopteroctetes unifascia'' has a full description of the larval stage available. Other than a single record of a specimen tentatively identified as ''Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata'', the larvae of the remaining species in both genera are unknown. ''Acanthopteroctetes unifascia''

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e are leaf-miners on the shrub genus ''

Ceanothus ''Ceanothus'' is a genus of about 50–60 species of nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceanothus. ''"Ceanothus" ...

'' (

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large Family (biology), family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 specie ...

). They form blotch-shaped mines and overwinter as larva, after which feeding continues in spring. Pupation occurs in a cocoon on the ground. The adult

s emerge during spring and are diurnal. The specimen tentatively identified as '' Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata'' was recorded from a leaf mine on a ''

Ribes ''Ribes'' () is a genus of about 200 known species of flowering plants, most of them native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The species may be known as various kinds of currants, such as redcurrants, blackcurrants, and White ...

'' sp. (

Grossulariaceae ''Ribes'' () is a genus of about 200 known species of flowering plants, most of them native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The species may be known as various kinds of currants, such as redcurrants, blackcurrants, and whi ...

Conservation

, none of the species in Acanthopteroctetidae have been evaluated by the IUCN.

Footnotes and references

External links

Tree of Life

Fauna Europaea

California Moth Specimens Database

Lepidoptera
Zootaxa {{Authority control Moth families Acanthoctesia Coelolepida