''Coelopoeta'' is a relatively divergent

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 small

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 in 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 ...

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. ...

, which have only been found in western North America. Its relationships have been interpreted differently over the past century. It has been placed in 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 ...

Elachistidae The Elachistidae (grass-miner moths) are a family of small moths in the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Gelechioidea. Some authors lumpers and splitters, lump about 3,300 species in eight subfamilies here, but this arrangement almost certainly result ...

, the family

Oecophoridae Oecophoridae (concealer moths) is a family of small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. The phylogeny and systematics of gelechoid moths are still not fully resolved, and the circumscription of the Oecophoridae is strongly affected by this. ...

, and the

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 ...

Coelopoetinae within the Elachistidae.

Taxonomy

It was described from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1907 as a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus by

Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham (29 July 1843 – 3 December 1919), of Merton Hall, Norfolk, was an English politician and amateur entomologist. Family business Walsingham was the son of Thomas de Grey, 5th Baron Walsingham, and Augusta- ...

to house the new species ''C. glutinosi'', which is therefore the

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 ...

. Lord Walsingham placed the genus in the family Hyponomeutidae. A second species from California was added in 1920 by

William Barnes William Barnes (22 February 1801 – 7 October 1886) was an English polymath, writer, poet, philologist, priest, mathematician, engraving artist and inventor. He wrote over 800 poems, some in Dorset dialect, and much other work, including a co ...

and

August Busck Augustus Busck (February 18, 1870 in Randers, DenmarkBUSCK, Augustus
in '' Elachistidae The Elachistidae (grass-miner moths) are a family of small moths in the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Gelechioidea. Some authors lumpers and splitters, lump about 3,300 species in eight subfamilies here, but this arrangement almost certainly result ...

by these two authors in the same paper. This new taxon was then synonymised with ''C. glutinosi'' by

Annette F. Braun Annette Frances Braun (August 24, 1884 – November 27, 1978) was an American entomologist and leading authority on microlepidoptera, a grouping of mostly small and nocturnal moths. Her special interest was leaf miners: moths whose larvae live ...

in 1948 due to the insects being morphologically identical and found on the same food plants, rendering the genus monotypic again. This interpretation of synonymy was upheld by Ronald W. Hodges in 1983,

Lauri Kaila Lauri Kaila is a Finnish entomologist and researcher of biodiversity, specializing in Lepidoptera, at the Finnish Museum of Natural History of the University of Helsinki. As of 2019, Kaila authored 324 species within the family of Elachistidae ...

in 1995, and van Nieukerken ''et al''. in 2011. Braun also placed the genus in the family Elachistidae in her 1948

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

on the North American members of the family, based on the morphology of the mouth parts, the antenna and the wing venation, although she mentions the divergent

genitalia A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

compared to the rest of the family. Hodges was the first to classified the one species in its own subfamily, the Coelopoetinae of the Elachistidae, in 1978, although he mentions doubting if the new subgenus might not better be placed in the Oecophorini. and in the 1983 ''Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico'' (in which it is numbered 1076) he retained this classification. In 1995 Kaila reviewed the genus ''Coelopoeta'' and continued to include it in the family Elachistidae. He described two new species, one from high elevations in California and another from the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

in Canada. Brown ''et al''. classified the genus in the subfamily

Oecophorinae __NOTOC__ The Oecophorinae are the nominate subfamily of moths in the concealer moth family (biology), family (Oecophoridae). They are part of the insufficiently studied Taxonomic rank, superfamily Gelechioidea, and like their relatives, the Circu ...

of the Oecophoridae in 2004. In Zhi-Qiang Zhang's 2011 attempt to number all the known animal species of earth, van Nieukerken ''et al''., the authors of the section on

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 ...

, recognised the Coelopoetidae as an independent, monotypic family within the

, comprising three species in the genus ''Coelopoeta''. Three years later, in 2014, a

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

analysis by Heikkilä ''et al''. moved the genus to the subfamily Coelopoetinae of the family Pterolonchidae.

Species

* '' Coelopoeta glutinosi''

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 -

* '' Coelopoeta phaceliae''

Kaila Kaila may refer to: People with the surname Kaila: * Eino Kaila (1890-1958), Finnish philosopher, critic and teacher * Erkki Kaila (1867–1944), Finnish theologian, Archbishop of Turku * Lauri Kaila, Finnish entomologist and researcher of biodiv ...

, 1995 - California * '' Coelopoeta maiadella'' Kaila, 1995 -

Distribution

''Coelopoeta'' is native to western North America, from

to the

, although none are recorded from

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Ecology

The caterpillars of ''C. glutinosi''

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

within the leaves of ''

Eriodictyon ''Eriodictyon'' is a genus of plants known by the common name yerba santa within the Hydrophylloideae subfamily of the borage family, Boraginaceae. They are distributed throughout the southwestern United States and Mexico. Description Most spe ...

'' plant species, those of ''C. phaceliae'' are hosted on species of ''

Phacelia ''Phacelia'' (phacelia, scorpionweed, Heliotropium, heliotrope) is a genus of about 200 species of annual plant, annual or perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plant, plants in the borage family, native to North Ameri ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5140679 Gelechioidea Moth genera