''Chedra microstigma'' is a 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 ...

of 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 described in 1907. It has only been found on

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

. It has been found feeding on sedges, plants belonging to the family

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 ...

, and its larvae host at least three species of

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

s in

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 ...

Taxonomy

It was first described by Lord Walsingham in 1907 as ''Batrachedra microstigma'' from specimens collected at in altitude in the

Waianae Mountains Waianae () is a census-designated place (CDP) in the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 13,614. Its name means "waters of the mullet". Its etymology is shared with the far northe ...

by Robert Cyril Layton Perkins, and moved to the

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 ...

'' Chedra'' by Elwood Zimmerman in 1978. Upon closer examination of the original

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 ...

, Zimmerman determined that Walsingham had in fact collected two species, and described the new species '' Chedra mimica'' from some of those same specimens. Otto Herman Swezey collected larvae at a coastal marshland near the city of

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

known as 'Kewalo', now long lost to development, which he then reared to adult moths. These

August Busck Augustus Busck (February 18, 1870 in Randers, DenmarkBUSCK, Augustus
in '' holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

from amongst the original type series. The type for ''Batrachedra cuniculator'' is kept at

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. Zimmerman moved the entire ''Chedra'' genus, including this species, to the Momphinae

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 ...

of the

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 1978. Ron Hodges classified ''Chedra'' in the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family Coleophoridae in his 1983 ''Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico'', but in 1999 he placed in the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family Batrachedridae.

Distribution

It was described from

, but is seen as possibly an introduced species. This is due to remarks by Swezey when he collected the types for the taxon ''Batrachedra cuniculator'' near Honolulu. According to him it was odd that he had not noticed the species at an earlier date, despite having lived in Hawaii for a few years. When Zimmerman moved that taxon to his reclassified ''Chedra microstigma'', he further remarked that besides the two ''Chedra'' species he had just classified as such, the genus ''Chedra'' was at that point only known from the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, which meant the presence of the genus on Hawaii could be considered a

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

oddity. At present, however, a new species has been discovered in 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 ...

, ''C. fimbristyli'', which is certainly native to those islands. & , 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: Zimmerman further theorised that the mode of invasion may have been the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

, which posted a large number of horses and mules on Oahu after the USA usurped the native government in 1893, and imported a large amount of hay and

silage Silage is fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation (food), fermentation to the point of souring. It is fed to cattle, sheep and other ruminants. The fermentation and storage process is called ''ensilage'', ' ...

from the West Coast of North America as provender for this stock, in which stalks the caterpillars may have hitched a ride. Note, however, that this was only around a decade before Lord Walsingham collected his type series in the island interior.

Ecology

Swezey collected the larvae feeding on '' Cyperus laevigatus'' and '' Scirpus maritimus''. They mine the leaves and bore the stems of their host plants. Zimmerman reported finding the

s '' Bracon swezeyi'', '' Chelonus blackburni'' and '' Trathala flavo-orbitalis'' infesting this moth species in Hawaii.

Citations

Batrachedridae Moths described in 1907 Taxa named by Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham {{Batrachedridae-stub