Mimallonidae (mimallonids), sometimes known as "sack-bearer" moths for 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 ...
l case-building behavior, are a family 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 ...
containing over 300 named species in 43 genera.
These moths are found only in the
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
, with most taxa occurring in the
Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In biogeog ...
.
Adult moths are externally similar to those belonging to some of the other
Macroheterocera
The Macroheterocera are a well supported clade of moths that are closely related to butterflies and macro-moths.
Taxonomy
The Macroheterocera includes the following superfamilies:
* Mimallonoidea – sack bearers (variously included in basal ...
families
Bombycoidea
Bombycoidea is a superfamily of moths, including the silk moths, giant silk moths, sphinx moths, saturniids, and relatives. The superfamily Lasiocampoidea is a close relative and was historically sometimes merged in this group. After many ...
and
Drepanoidea
Drepanoidea is the superfamily of "hook tip moths". See Minet and Scoble (1999) for a comprehensive overview.
References
* Minet, J. and Scoble, M.J. (1999). The Drepanoid/Geometroid Assemblage. Ch. 17 in Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.). ''Lepidoptera ...
, and thus have been variously treated as belonging to either one of these or other superfamilies.
Distribution
Mimallonids are restricted to the New World, and are distributed in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean (Cuba and The Bahamas).
The vast majority of genera and species are found in the
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
regions of the New World, with only five described species from the United States.
Biology
Not much has been published on the natural history of adult Mimallonidae, though most species are thought to be
nocturnal
Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatur ...
.
At least three species have
diurnal males. Young
caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...
s live inside of folded leaves or beneath silken networks, and build portable or semi-portable cases out of
silk
Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
,
frass, and plant material as they grow.
The cases are open on either end and vary from irregular in structure to spindle-shaped.
The openings of the cases can be blocked by the head and/or the flattened anal plate of the last segment of the body.
The sack-like case-making behavior of the caterpillars have earned them the common name "sack-bearers".
Mimallonidae larvae feed on several families of plants, including (but not limited to):
Anacardiaceae,
Clusiaceae,
Combretaceae
The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, G ...
,
Fagaceae,
Melastomataceae
Melastomataceae () is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics (two-thirds of the genera are from the New World tropics) comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial herbs ...
,
Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...
and
Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...
.
Research at the
Area de Conservación,
Guanacaste, Costa Rica has resulted in the rearing of many species of Mimallonidae, including some from several additional families of plants.
Systematics and evolution
The current consensus, especially in works based on
phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...
results, consider Mimallonidae to be the sole family of Mimallonoidea.
Other phylogenetic studies of all major Lepidoptera lineages support the placement of Mimallonidae as sister to all Macroheterocera, but within the broader clade
Obtectomera.
This phylogenetic placement means that mimallonid moths are not more closely related to any one family of Lepidoptera, but are equally related (share a common ancestor with) all members of the extremely diverse clade Macroheterocera.
Morphological features, particularly of the larvae, support the uniqueness of this family and distinctness from Macroheterocera.
The systematic relationships with Mimallonidae have been subject to two revisions, resulting in two different classification schemes. William Schaus revised the family and named most of the genera, he then separated the genera into two subfamilies: Lacosominae and Mimalloninae.
These subfamilies were based on the presence (Lacosominae) or the absence (Mimalloninae) of the
frenulum.
It was later realized that this character varies within genera, and thus was deemed a
sympleisiomorphy.
Using
molecular phylogenetics
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
, specifically with the technique of
anchored hybrid enrichment, the family was reorganized based on the recognition and naming of robustly supported
clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
s, which were further strengthened with morphological
apomorphies.
The clades which were robustly supported across all analyses were assigned
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 ...
status, resulting in recognition of seven subfamilies in Mimallonidae.
Using both molecular and morphological phylogenetics, all 42
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
(including some newly described ones) were assigned to the named clades.
The 300+ species of the family, too, have been formally classified according to their phylogenetic arrangement.
Recently, many of the species formally placed in the genus ''Cicinnus'' have been transferred to ''Gonogramma'', making ''Gonogramma'' one of the most diverse mimallonid genera.
Subfamilies, tribes, and genera
Below are the named clades of Mimallonidae, with their constituent genera assigned to their subfamily and tribe (wherever applicable).
* Zaphantinae
** ''
Zaphanta'' Dyar, 1910
* Roelofinae
**''
Roelofa'' Schaus, 1928
*Meneviinae
**''
Cunicumara'' St Laurent, 2016
**''Menevia'' Schaus, 1928
**''
Tolypida'' Schaus, 1928
*Aurorianinae
**''
Auroriana'' St Laurent and C. Mielke, 2016
* Mimalloninae
**''
Eadmuna'' Schaus, 1928
** ''
Macessoga'' Schaus, 1928
** ''
Mimallo'' Hübner, 1820
**''
Mimallodes'' St Laurent and Becker, 2020
**''
Tostallo'' St Laurent and C. Mielke, 2016
* Lacosominae
* Alheitini
** ''
Adalgisa'' Schaus, 1928
** ''
Alheita'' Schaus, 1928
** ''
Arianula'' Herbin, 2012,
** ''
Fatellalla'' St Laurent and Kawahara, 2019
** ''
Herbinalla'' St Laurent and Kawahara, 2018
** ''
Tarema'' Schaus, 1896
** ''
Thaelia'' Herbin, 2016
* Lacosomini
** ''
Citralla'' St Laurent and Kawahara, 2019
** ''
Lacosoma'' Grote, 1864
** ''
Vanenga'' Schaus, 1928
* Trogopterini
** ''
Reinmara'' Schaus, 1928
** ''
Trogoptera'' Herrich-Schäffer,
856* Druenticinae
* Druenticini:
** ''
Druentica'' Strand, 1932
** ''
Lepismalla'' St Laurent and Kawahara, 2019
** ''
Micrallo'' St Laurent and C. Mielke, 2016
** ''
Pamea'' Walker, 1855
** ''
Procinnus'' Herbin, 2016
** ''
Ulaluma'' St Laurent and Kawahara, 2018
* Luramini
** ''
Lurama'' Schaus, 1928
** ''
Ulmara'' Schaus, 1928
* Cicinninae
* Bedosiini
** ''
Bedosia'' Schaus, 1928
** ''
Bedosiallo'' St Laurent and Kawahara, 2018
* Cicinnini
**''
Aceclostria'' Vuillot, 1893
** ''
Aleyda'' Schaus, 1928
** ''
Arcinnus'' Herbin, 2016
** ''
Cicinnus'' Blanchard, 1852
**''
Cerradocinnus'' St Laurent, MIelke, and Kawahara, 2020
**''
Gonogramma'' Boisduval, 1872
**''
Euphaneta'' Schaus, 1928
**''
Isoscella'' St Laurent and Carvalho, 2017
**''
Roelmana'' Schaus, 1928
* Psychocampini
** ''
Biterolfa'' Schaus, 1928
** ''
Psychocampa'' Grote and Robinson, 1867
Importance to humans
Mimallonidae have been reported as pests of some economically significant crops. In
Surinam, ''Mimallo amilia'' has been noted as a pest of
guava (''
Psidium gaujava'').
In
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, ''M. amilia'' is a known pest of eucalyptus (''
Eucalyptus urophylla'') and ''Psychocampa callipius'' a pest of
cashew (''Anacardium occidentale'').
In addition to some Mimallonidae species being regarded as pests, others have been considered as potential biological controls of invasive plants. Species belonging to the genus ''Druentica'' have been considered as potential control agents of ''
Miconia calvescens'' (where it is invasive throughout the
Pacific Islands, including
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
) and ''
Clidemia hirta'' in Hawaii. ''Aceclostria mus'' has been evaluated as a potential control agent of the
Brazilian pepper tree (''Schinus terebinthifolius'') in the United States.
References
Sources
*''Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders'', edited by Christopher O'Toole, , 2002
Natural History Museum Lepidoptera genus database
External links
Page of images of Mimallonidae from Area de Conservación Guanacaste,
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
.
{{Authority control
Moth families
Macroheterocera