Trichaeini is a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

of the species-rich subfamily

Spilomelinae Spilomelinae is a very species-rich subfamily of the lepidopteran family Crambidae, the crambid snout moths. With 4,135 described species in 344 genera worldwide, it is the most speciose group among pyraloids. Description Imagines – the adu ...

in the pyraloid moth

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Crambidae The Crambidae are the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies includ ...

. The tribe was erected by Richard Mally, James E. Hayden, Christoph Neinhuis, Bjarte H. Jordal and Matthias Nuss in 2019.

Description

Adult Trichaeini are characterised by a single

synapomorphy In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to hav ...

in the male genitalia: a raised sclerotised ridge is present on the sacculus, running from the basal to the dorsodistal part. Further characteristics of Trichaeini are the weakly sclerotised, lens-shaped valvae, the strongly (in '' Trichaea'' and '' Archernis humilis'') to weakly sclerotized fibula with simple hairs, and the scaly sacculus. In the female genitalia, the ductus bursae is broad, but narrowing at the posterior end, and the corpus bursae bears a slim longitudinal signum. In some '' Prophantis'' species, the anterior end of the signum is split into two anterolateral legs – a condition that is also found in '' Syngamia'' in the Nomophilini.

Food plants

The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...

s of Trichaeini primarily feed on plants of the

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a 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 interpetiolar stipules ...

family. The coffee berry moths '' Prophantis longicornalis'', '' P. octoguttalis'' and '' P. smaragdina'' are considered

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

on ''

Coffea arabica ''Coffea arabica'' (), also known as the Arabic coffee, is a species of flowering plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae. It is believed to be the first species of coffee to have been cultivated and is currently the dominant cultivar, r ...

'', the Arabian coffee. They are known to also feed on the Rubiaceae plants '' Bertiera zaluzania'', ''

Gardenia ''Gardenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Madagascar and Pacific Islands, and Australia. The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus and John Ellis af ...

'', ''

Ixora coccinea ''Ixora coccinea'' (also known as jungle geranium, flame of the woods or jungle flame or pendkuli) is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is a common flowering shrub native to Southern India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It ha ...

'' and ''

Tricalysia ''Tricalysia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is found in tropical and southern Africa and on the islands in the Western Indian Ocean. Species * '' Tricalysia achoundongiana'' Robbr., Sonké & Kenfack * ''T ...

'', the

Verbenaceae The Verbenaceae ( ), the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell. Th ...

'' Duranta plumieri'', and '' Triclisia'' in the

Menispermaceae Menispermaceae (botanical Latin: 'moonseed family' from Greek ''mene'' 'crescent moon' and ''sperma'' 'seed') is a family of flowering plants. The alkaloid tubocurarine, a neuromuscular blocker and the active ingredient in the 'tube curare' form ...

. '' Trichaea'' larvae feed on species of ''

Psychotria ''Psychotria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It contains 1,582 species and is therefore one of the largest genera of flowering plants. The genus has a pantropical distribution and members of the genus are small understo ...

'', on '' Morinda panamensis'' and ''

Margaritopsis microdon ''Margaritopsis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the coffee family. The genus is found from Mexico to tropical America. Species *'' Margaritopsis agustinae'' (Acuña) C.M.Taylor *''Margaritopsis albert-smithii'' (Standl.) C.M.Taylor * ...

'' (all Rubiaceae), but were also recorded from

Urticaceae The Urticaceae are a family, the nettle family, of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus '' Urtica''. The Urticaceae include a number of well-known and useful plants, including nettles in the genus ''Urtica'', ramie (''Boehmer ...

and

Celastraceae The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales. The great majority of the genera are tropical, with only ''Celastrus'' (the s ...

. Recently, '' Archernis humilis'' was discovered to feed on the skunk vine '' Paederia foetida''. It was investigated as a potential biological control agent against this invasive plant species in North America, but was found to not be hostplant-specific enough for this purpose, as the caterpillars also feed on the North American endemic '' Paederia ciliata''.

Distribution

The species of '' Archernis'' and '' Prophantis'' are distributed in the tropics and subtropics of Australia and the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by th ...

, i.e.,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

. The species of the other three

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

are found in the tropics and subtropics of the Americas.

Systematics

The tribe currently comprises 36 species in five genera: *'' Archernis'' Meyrick, 1886 *'' Prophantis'' Warren, 1896 *'' Sacculosia'' Amsel, 1956 *'' Trichaea'' Herrich-Schäffer, 1866 (synonyms ''Acridura'' Butler, 1875, ''Phryctena'' Oberthür, 1881) *'' Zenamorpha'' Amsel, 1956 The larval feeding on Rubiaceae is shared with the tribe Nomophilini, which might be the

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

of Trichaeini.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q85810679 Spilomelinae Moth tribes