The Monotrysia are a group of
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
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 ...
n
order, not currently considered to be a natural group or
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 ...
.
The group is so named because the female has a single
genital opening for mating and laying eggs, in contrast to the rest of the Lepidoptera (
Ditrysia
Ditrysia is a clade of lepidopterans that contains both butterflies and a majority of moth species. They are named for the fact that the female has two distinct sexual openings: one for mating, and the other for laying eggs.
About 98% of know ...
), which have two female reproductive openings.
[ Later classifications used Monotrysia in a narrower sense for the nonditrysian ]Heteroneura
Heteroneura is a natural group (or clade) in the insect order Lepidoptera that comprises over 99% of all butterflies and moths. This is the sister group of the infraorder Exoporia
The Exoporia are a group of primitive Lepidoptera comprising ...
, but this group was also found to be paraphyletic with respect to Ditrysia.[ Apart from the recently discovered ]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 ...
Andesianidae,[Davis, D. R. and Gentili, P. (2003). Andesianidae, a new family of monotrysian moths (Lepidoptera: Andesianoidea) from South America. ''Invertebrate Systematics'', 17: 15-2]
Abstract
/ref> most of the group consists of small, relatively understudied species.
See also
*
References
Further reading
*Davis D. R. (1999). The Monotrysian Heteroneura. Pages 65–90 in: Lepidoptera: Moths and Butterflies. 1. Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbook of Zoology Vol. IV, Part 35. N. P. Kristensen, ed. De Gruyter, Berlin and New York.
External links
Neolepidoptera
Obsolete arthropod taxa
Paraphyletic groups
{{Moth-stub