Epicephala

''Epicephala'' (leafflower moths) is a genus of moths in the family Gracillariidae.

''Epicephala'' is of note in the fields of pollination biology and coevolution because many species in this genus are pollinators of plants in the genera '' Glochidion'', '' Phyllanthus'', and ''Breynia'' ( Phyllanthaceae). These pollinating ''Epicephala'' actively pollinate the flowers of their host plants—thereby ensuring that the plants may produce viable seeds—but also lay eggs in the flowers' ovaries, where their larvae consume a subset of the developing seeds as nourishment.Kawakita, A.; Kato, M. (2009) "Repeated independent evolution of obligate pollination mutualism in the Phyllantheae-''Epicephala'' association." ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B.'' 276: 417–426. This relationship is similar to other specialized pollinating seed-predation mutualisms such as those between figs and fig wasps and yuccas and yucca moths.

Other species of ''Epicephala'' consume the seeds of species of '' Phyllanthus'' or '' Flueggea'' ( Phyllanthaceae) as larvae, but do not pollinate their host plants as adults. At least some of these species have evolved from pollinating ancestors.Kawakita, A.; Kato, M. 2009. "Repeated independent evolution of obligate pollination mutualism in the Phyllantheae-''Epicephala'' association." ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B.'' 276: 417–426.

Species

*''Epicephala acrobaphes'' (Turner, 1900)
*''Epicephala acrocarpa'' Meyrick, 1927
*''Epicephala albifrons'' (Stainton, 1859)
*''Epicephala albistriatella'' (Turner, 1894)
*''Epicephala ancistropis'' Meyrick, 1935
*''Epicephala ancylopa'' Meyrick, 1918
*''Epicephala angustisaccula'' Li, 2015
*''Epicephala anthophilia'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016
*''Epicephala australis'' (Turner, 1896)
*''Epicephala bathrobaphes'' Turner, 1947
*''Epicephala bipollenella'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012Zhang, J., Hu, B., Wang, S. & Li, H. (2012). "Six new species of ''Epicephala'' Meyrick, 1880 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) associated with Phyllanthaceae plants." ''Zootaxa'' 3275: 43-54.
*''Epicephala bromias'' Meyrick, 1910
*''Epicephala calasiris'' Meyrick, 1908
*''Epicephala camurella'' Li, 2015
*''Epicephala colymbetella'' Meyrick, 1880
*''Epicephala corruptrix'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016
*''Epicephala domina'' Li, 2015
*''Epicephala epimicta'' (Turner, 1913)
*''Epicephala eriocarpa'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012
*''Epicephala euchalina'' Meyrick, 1922
*''Epicephala eugonia'' Turner, 1913
*''Epicephala exetastis'' Meyrick, 1908
*''Epicephala flagellata'' Meyrick, 1908
*''Epicephala frenata'' Meyrick, 1908
*''Epicephala haplodoxa'' Vári, 1961
*''Epicephala homostola'' Vári, 1961
*''Epicephala impolliniferens'' Li, 2015
*''Epicephala jansei'' Vári, 1961
*''Epicephala laeviclada'' Li, 2015
*''Epicephala lanceolaria'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012
*''Epicephala lanceolatella'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016
*'' Epicephala lativalvaris'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012
*'' Epicephala lomatographa'' Turner, 1913
*''Epicephala microcarpa'' Li, 2015
*''Epicephala mirivalvata'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012
*''Epicephala nephelodes'' Turner, 1913
*''Epicephala nudilingua'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016
*''Epicephala obovatella'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016
*''Epicephala orientale'' (Stainton, 1856)
*''Epicephala parasitica'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016
*''Epicephala pelopepla'' Vári, 1961
*''Epicephala periplecta'' (Diakonoff, 1955)
*''Epicephala perplexa'' Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016
*''Epicephala pyrrhogastra'' Meyrick, 1908
*''Epicephala relictella'' Meyrick, 1930
*''Epicephala sphenitis'' Meyrick, 1931
*''Epicephala spinula'' Clarke, 1986
*''Epicephala spumosa'' Turner, 1947
*''Epicephala squamella'' Kuznetzov & Baryshnikova, 2001
*''Epicephala stauropa'' Meyrick, 1908
*'' Epicephala strepsiploca'' Meyrick, 1918
*''Epicephala subtilis'' Meyrick, 1922
*'' Epicephala tephrostola'' Vári, 1961
*''Epicephala tertiaria'' Li, 2015
*''Epicephala trigonophora'' (Turner, 1900)
*''Epicephala venenata'' Meyrick, 1935
*''Epicephala vermiformis'' Meyrick, 1936
*''Epicephala vitisidaea'' Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012
*''Epicephala zalosticha'' Turner, 1940

References

External links

Global Taxonomic Database of Gracillariidae (Lepidoptera)Youtube video of an ''Epicephala lanceolaria'' pollinating a host ''Glochidion lanceolarium'' flower

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5382502

Gracillariinae
Gracillarioidea genera