The Ratardinae are a small

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 ...

of large

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 from

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

Taxonomy and systematics

Ratardinae is a small subfamily of moths formerly placed in its own family Ratardidae and related to (and often included within) the

Cossidae The Cossidae, the cossid millers or carpenter millers, make up a family of mostly large miller moths. This family contains over 110 genera with almost 700 known species, and many more species await description. Carpenter millers are Lepidopter ...

. Three genera are known, one quite recently described. One species, ''"Shisa" excellens'', was originally placed in the

Lymantriidae The Lymantriinae (formerly called the Lymantriidae) are a subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard no ...

. The moths are large with rounded wings and strongly spotted wing patterns, and "pectinate" antennae. The relationships of this group to other

Cossoidea Cossoidea is the superfamily of moths that includes carpenter moths and relatives. Like their likely sister group Sesioidea they are internal feeders and have spiny pupae with moveable segments to allow them to extrude out of their exit holes in ...

needs reassessment, once suitable samples are available, with molecular data.

Distribution

About 13 relictually distributed species are restricted to

, occurring in

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

, northeastern

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

, and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Behaviour

The adults are very rarely found, feeble-flying, and occasionally are attracted to light, but more likely to be found flying by day.

Conservation

These large moths are so incredibly rarely found and their habitats under such massive threat from large-scale conversion of rainforest in Southeast Asia that their conservation status should be seriously considered and dedicated surveys conducted to assess their distribution and biology. One species (''Ratarda melanoxantha'') is probably protected by virtue of its occurrence in

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran'' or ''Nulu Nabalu'', ) is the highest mountain in Malaysia and Borneo. With a height of , it is the third-highest peak of an island on Earth, the 28th highest peak in Southeast Asia, and 20th most prom ...

National Park on

, where it was found once.(Holloway, 1986).

References

*Edwards, E.D., Gentili, P., Horak, M., Kristensen, N.P. and Nielsen, E.S. (1999). The cossoid/sesioid assemblage. Ch. 11, pp. 181–195 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. *Heynderycx, J. 2003. Les Ratardinae. ''Lambillionea'', 103(1): 133-134. *Heppner J.B. and Wang, H.Y. 1987. A rare moth, ''Ratarda tertia'' Strand (Lepidoptera: Ratardidae), from Palin Taiwan. ''Táiwa-n she(nglì bówùgua(n bànniánka-n (Táiwa-n she(nglì bówùgua(n bànniánka-n)'', 40: 91-94. *Holloway, J.D. (1986). ''The Moths of Borneo: Key to Families: Families Cossiae, Metarbelidae, Ratardidae, Dudgeonidae, Epipyropidae and Limacodidae''. ''Malayan Nature Journal'', 40: 1-166. *Holloway, J.D. (1998). ''The Moths of Borneo: Families Castniidae, Callidulidae, Drepanidae and Uraniidae''. ''Malayan Nature Journal'', 52: 1-155. *Kobes, L.W.R. and Ronkay, L. (1990). ''The Ratardidae of Sumatra'', ''Heterocera Sumatrana'', 6: 79-100. *Owada, M. (1993). The systematic position of ''Shisa excellens'' (Lepidoptera and Ratardidae). ''Japanese Journal of Entomology'', 61(2): 251-260.

External links

The Moths of BorneoNHM Lepindex"Ratardinae Hampson, 1898"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''. Retrieved May 16, 2017. Cossidae Moth subfamilies {{Cossoidea-stub