''Chedra'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of tiny

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, belonging to the

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 ...

Batrachedridae The Batrachedridae are a small family (biology), family of tiny moths. These are small, slender moths which rest with their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies. Taxonomy The taxonomy of this and related groups is often disputed. This grou ...

Taxonomy

Ron Hodges created the genus in 1966 to accommodate three new species: two from North America and one from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. These he found very similar to the genus '' Batrachedra'', but distinct on the basis of the adult males possessing a "single, strong, apical spine on the

ampulla An ampulla (; : ampullae) was, in Ancient Rome, a small round vessel, usually made of glass and with two handles, used for sacred purposes. The word is used of these in archaeology, and of later flasks, often handle-less and much flatter, for ho ...

" (also known as the

harpe The ''harpē'' () is a type of sword- or sickle-like weapon mentioned in Greek and Roman sources, and almost always in mythological contexts. Harpe in mythology The harpe is most notably identified as the weapon used by Cronus to castrate and ...

), the females he distinguished from those of ''Batrachedra'' by the "presence of long apophyses" and the "absence of a signum and accessory pouches, and the corpus bursae being poorly set off from the ductus bursae". At the time Hodges initially classified the genus in the family

Gelechioidea __NOTOC__ Gelechioidea (from the type genus ''Gelechia'', "keeping to the ground") is the Taxonomic rank, superfamily of moths that contains the case-bearers, twirler moths, and relatives, also simply called curved-horn moths or gelechioid moths. ...

. Hodges designated as

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

'' Chedra pensor''. Elwood Zimmerman included it in his

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Momphinae The Momphidae, or mompha moths, is a family of moths with some 115 described species. It was described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1857. These moths tend to be rather small with a wingspan of up to 21 mm. The wings are he ...

of the family

Gelechiidae The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied Taxonomic rank, superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy (biology), taxonomy ...

in his 1978 treatment of the

microlepidoptera Microlepidoptera (micromoths) is an artificial (i.e., unranked and not monophyletic) grouping of moth families, commonly known as the "smaller moths" ( micro, Lepidoptera). These generally have wingspans of under 20 mm, so are harder to iden ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. He expanded the genus be adding two more species, the first by moving a species from ''Batrachedra'' to ''Chedra'', the second upon discovery of a new species among the already collected specimens of the first species after closer examination of the

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

. Hodges included the genus in the family

in the 1978 ''The moths of America north of Mexico'', he included it in subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family

Coleophoridae The Coleophoridae are a family of small moths, belonging to the huge superfamily Gelechioidea. Collectively known as case-bearers, casebearing moths or case moths, this family is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in temp ...

in his 1983 ''Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico'', but in 1999 he re-classified the genus in his newly re-described subfamily Batrachedrinae, with the same name as earlier, but now within the family Batrachedridae. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index of the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

classifies the genus in the family Coleophoridae, although references are not provided to substantiate this placement. Last updated by Alessandro Giusti - 6 July 2004

Etymology

The

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

of the name for the genus ''Batrachedra'' is from two words, 'bactrach' is derived from ''batrachos'', a frog, and ''edra'', a seat (which refers to the particular resting position of the

imago In biology, the imago (Latin for "image") is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process of growth and development; it is also called the ''imaginal'' stage ("imaginal" being "imago" in adjective form), the stage in wh ...

es). Hodges created the name ''Chedra'' as a derivative of that, but it means nothing, and is thus a "nonsense name" in the sense of

Edward Meyrick Edward Meyrick (25 November 1854 – 31 March 1938) was an English schoolmaster and amateur entomologist. He was an expert on microlepidoptera and some consider him one of the founders of modern microlepidoptera systematics. Life and work Ed ...

Species

It is unclear how many species exist of this genus, but the following have been named: *'' Chedra delector'' Hodges, 1966 -

*''

Chedra fimbristyli ''Chedra fimbristyli'' is a moth in the family Batrachedridae. It was described by Wolfram Mey, in a paper published with Maria J. C. Ceniza in 1993. It is found on the Philippines. & , 1993: ''Chedra fimbristyli'' n. sp. ein minierender Kleinsc ...

'' Mey, 1993 - The

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

& , 1993: ''Chedra fimbristyli'' n. sp. ein minierender Kleinschmetterling an ''Fimbrystylis'' ssp (Cyperaceae) auf Leyte, Philippinen (Lepidoptera: Batrachedridae). ''Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift'' N.F. 40(1): 181-186. Abstract: *'' Chedra inquisitor'' Hodges, 1966 - Eastern North America (type specimens were collected in central

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

) *''

Chedra microstigma ''Chedra microstigma'' is a tiny moth of the family Batrachedridae described in 1907. It has only been found on Oahu. It has been found feeding on sedges, plants belonging to the family Cyperaceae, and its larvae host at least three species of ...

'' (

Walsingham Walsingham () is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval Christian monasticism, monastic houses.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Expl ...

, 1907) -

*'' Chedra mimica'' Zimmerman, 1978 - Hawaii *'' Chedra pensor'' Hodges, 1966 -

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, specimens have also recently been collected in Illinois

Ecology

In ''Chedra delector'' the caterpillars feed upon the seeds of

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 ...

, those of ''C. fimbristyli'' mine within the leaves of a species of ''

Fimbristylis ''Fimbristylis'' is a genus of sedges. A plant in this genus may be known commonly as a fimbry or fimbristyle. There are 200 to 300 species distributed worldwide. Several continents have native species but many species have been introduced to ...

'' in the family Cyperaceae, and those of ''C. microstigma'' have been found mining in the leaves of '' Cyperus laevigatus'' and ''

Scirpus maritimus ''Bolboschoenus maritimus'' is a species of flowering plant from family Cyperaceae. Common names for this species include sea clubrush, cosmopolitan bulrush, alkali bulrush, saltmarsh bulrush, and bayonet grass. It is found in seaside wetland hab ...

'', also plants of the family Cyperaceae.

Uses

''Chedra fimbristyli'' is a nuisance species in a minor traditional fibre plant locally used in the Philippines.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5089224 Batrachedridae