The Drepanidae are a

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 ...

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 about 660

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), ...

described worldwide. They are generally divided in three subfamilies, which share the same type of hearing organ. Thyatirinae, previously often placed in their own family, bear a superficial resemblance to

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family (biology), family of moths. Taxonomically, they are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly ...

. Many species in the drepanid family have a distinctively hook-shaped apex to the fore wing, leading to their common name of hook-tips. The

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 of many species are very distinctive, tapering to a point at the tail and usually resting with both head and tail raised. They usually feed on the leaves of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s and

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s, pupating between leaves spun together with silk.

Taxonomy

*Subfamily

Drepaninae Drepaninae are by far the largest subfamily of the Drepanidae moths. While it is usually split into two tribes, Drepanini and Oretini, its internal systematics and phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation whi ...

– hook-tips *Subfamily Thyatirinae – false owlets *Subfamily Cyclidiinae *Unassigned to subfamily **'' Hypsidia'' Rothschild, 1896 **'' Yucilix'' Yang, 1978

References

* Chinery, Michael (1986): ''Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe'' * Skinner, Bernard (1984): ''Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles''

External links

CSIRO
Images Taxa named by Edward Meyrick Moth families {{Drepanidae-stub

Taxonomy

See also

References

External links