Callidulidae, the only known family of the
superfamily
SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...
Calliduloidea, is the
family of Old World butterfly-moths, containing eight
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
. They have a peculiar distribution, restricted to the Old World tropics of
Southeast Asia to
Australasia and
Madagascar. The three
subfamilies
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 subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
exhibit both day- and night-flying behaviour.
The mainly day-flying
Callidulinae can be distinguished by their resting posture, which is the most
butterfly-like, with the wings held closely over the back. Resembling the butterfly
family Lycaenidae, these
moths
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
can be told apart by their
antennae which taper to a point or may be very subtly clubbed. The more often night-flying
Pterothysaninae and
Griveaudiinae have a different adult resting posture (the latter roof-like in repose) and these were not placed within the Callidulidae until recently.
Biology of most subfamilies and species is poorly known. Eggs are very flat in
Griveaudiinae and
Callidulinae, and caterpillars of
Callidulinae are green with a shiny black head and have only been reported from ferns forming a leaf roll in which they live, eat and finally
pupate, while the pupa of ''
Helicomitra'' appears to be subterranean.
The closest relatives of Callidulidae are not known, but they are currently placed in a group that includes the three
butterfly superfamilies, the "hook-tip moths"
Drepanoidea and the "geometer moths"
Geometroidea and also possibly
Axioidea
Axiidea is an infraorder of decapod crustaceans. They are colloquially known as mud shrimp, ghost shrimp, or burrowing shrimp; however, these decapods are only distantly related to true shrimp. Axiidea and Gebiidea are divergent infraoders of t ...
which share some structural characteristics.
[Minet, J. (1999 ]988
Year 988 ( CMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Fall – Emperor Basil II, supported by a contingent of 6,000 Varangians ...
. The Axioidea and Calliduloidea. Ch. 16, pp. 257–261 in Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.). ''Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies''. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches / Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Band / Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Teilband / Part 35: 491 pp. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York.
Cited references
Other references
* (1990
989
Year 989 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Emperor Basil II uses his contingent of 6,000 Varangians to he ...
. Nouvelles frontières, géographiques et taxonomiques, pour la famille des Callidulidae (Lepidoptera, Calliduloidea). ''Nouvelle Revue d'Entomologie'' (''N.S.'') 6(4): 351–368.
* 2003. Callidulidae
in The Tree of Life Web Project
Accessed October 2006
* (Ed.) (2002) ''Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders''.
External links
Tree of LifeNatural History Museum hosts databaseLepIndex list of species and genera in superfamily CalliduloideaMoths of Borneo CallidulidaeMoths of Borneo Callidulinae images''Callidula attenuata'' Accessed 4 March 2007Photo illustrating rest position
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1321398
Callidulidae,
Moth families
Obtectomera