__NOTOC__
''Pityocona'' is a small and little-known
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of the
twirler moth 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 ...
(Gelechiidae). Among these, it is believed to belong to
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 ...
Gelechiinae
Gelechiinae is a subfamily of moths in the family Gelechiidae. It was described by Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1854.
Taxonomy
The subfamily includes the following tribes and genera:
*Litini Bruand, 1859
**'' Agnippe'' Chambers, 1872
**'' Altenia ...
, but beyond that its relationships are still obscure.
They are small inconspicuous moths with pointed wings. In the forewing, the second vein is weakly developed but not joined to the third. Their
labial palp
Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicera ...
s have a pointed tip and the second segment is unornamented.
The genus contains five
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), ...
, one of which was described only in 2006:
[Wikispecies (2008-NOV-15)]
* ''
Pityocona attenuata''
J.F.G.Clarke, 1986
* ''
Pityocona bifurcatus''
Wadhawan & Walia, 2006
* ''
Pityocona porphyroscia''
Meyrick, 1927
* ''
Pityocona probleta''
Bradley, 1961
* ''
Pityocona xeropis''
Meyrick, 1918
Footnotes
References
* (1986): Pyralidae and Microlepidoptera of the Marquesas Archipelago. ''Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology'' 416: 1-485
PDF fulltext(214 MB!)
* (2004)
Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species&ndash
''Pityocona'' Version of 2004-NOV-05. Retrieved 2011-OCT-16.
Gelechiinae
Taxa named by Edward Meyrick
Gelechiidae genera
{{Gelechiinae-stub