Micropterigoidea is the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths", all placed in the single family Micropterigidae, containing currently about twenty living genera. They are considered the most primitive

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

lineage of

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 ...

(Kristensen, 1999), and the sole superfamily in the suborder Zeugloptera. The name comes from the Greek for ''mikros'', little and ''pterux'', a wing. Unique among the Lepidoptera, these moths have chewing mouthparts rather than a

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...

, and are seen feeding, often in large aggregations, on the pollen of the flowers of many herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees. The fossil record of the group goes back to the middle-late

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

with the earliest known species being '' Auliepterix'' from the Karabastau Formation in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Micropterigidae phylogenetic relationships

Genera

* '' Micropterix'' Hübner, 1825 * '' Epimartyria'' Walsingham, 1898 * '' Issikiomartyria'' Hashimoto, 2006 * '' Kurokopteryx'' Hashimoto, 2006 * '' Neomicropteryx'' Issiki, 1931 * '' Palaeomicroides'' Issiki, 1931 * '' Paramartyria'' Issiki, 1931 * '' Vietomartyria'' Mey, 1997 * '' Sabatinca'' Walker, 1863 * '' Agrionympha'' Meyrick, 1921 * '' Hypomartyria'' Kristensen & Nielsen 1982 * '' Squamicornia'' Kristensen & Nielsen, 1982 * '' Austromartyria'' Gibbs, 2010 * '' Tasmantrix'' Gibbs, 2010 * '' Zealandopterix'' Gibbs, 2010 * '' Aureopterix'' Gibbs, 2010 * '' Nannopterix'' Gibbs, 2010

Extinct genera

*† '' Archmosaicus'' Zhang, Deng et Ren, 2020

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. Th ...

, Myanmar,

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

*† '' Auliepterix'' Kozlov, 1989 Karabastau Formation, Kazakhstan,

Callovian In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 165.3 ± 1.1 Ma (million years ago) and 161.5 ± 1.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian and preceding the ...

/ Oxfordian Hotont Formation, Mongolia,

Aptian The Aptian is an age (geology), age in the geologic timescale or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), S ...

*† '' Baltimartyria'' Skalski, 1995

Baltic amber Baltic amber or succinite is amber from the Baltic region, home of its largest known deposits. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that this forested region provided the re ...

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

*† '' Electrocrania'' Kuznetsov 1941 Baltic amber, Eocene *† '' Moleropterix'' Engel & Kinzelbach, 2008

Fur Formation The Fur Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian ( Lower Eocene Epoch, c. 56.0-54.5 Ma) age which crops out in the Limfjord region of northern Denmark from Silstrup via Mors and Fur to Ertebølle, and can be seen in many cliffs and ...

, Denmark,

Ypresian In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...

*† '' Palaeosabatinca'' Kozlov, 1989

Zaza Formation The Zaza Formation is a geological formation located in Buryatia (Russia). It dates to the Lower Cretaceous. The age of the formation is disputed, and is considered likely to be Valanginian-Hauterivian, or Aptian in age. It comprises sandstones, ...

, Russia, Aptian *† '' Parasabatinca'' Whalley, 1978 Lebanese amber, Barremian,

Crato Formation The Crato Formation is a geologic formation (stratigraphy), formation of Early Cretaceous (Aptian) age in northeastern Brazil's Araripe Basin. It is an important Lagerstätten, Lagerstätte (undisturbed fossil accumulation) for palaeontology, pa ...

, Brazil, Aptian *† '' Terncladus'' Han, Zhang and Ren, 2024

, Myanmar, Cretaceous

References

* Kristensen, N. P., and E. S. Nielsen. 1979. A new subfamily of micropterigid moths from South America. A contribution to the morphology and phylogeny of the Micropterigidae, with a generic catalogue of the family (Lepidoptera: Zeugloptera). ''Steenstrupia'' 5(7):69–147. * Kristensen, N. P. (1999). The non-Glossatan Moths. Ch. 4, pp. 41–49 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.

Sources

* O'Toole, Christopher. 2002. ''Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders''. .

External links

Tree of Life

U.S.A. Nearctic

Detailed description and figures including wing venation. {{Taxonbar, from=Q280818 Moth families Taxa named by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer