Agathiphaga
Agathiphaga is a genus of moths, known as kauri moths. It is the only living in the family Agathiphagidae. This caddisfly-like lineage of primitive moths was first reported by Lionel Jack Dumbleton in 1952, as a new genus of Micropterigidae.[1]
| Agathiphaga | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Suborder: | Aglossata Speidel, 1977 |
| Superfamily: | Agathiphagoidea N. P. Kristensen, 1967 |
| Family: | Agathiphagidae N. P. Kristensen, 1967 |
| Genus: | Agathiphaga Dumbleton, 1952 |
| Species | |
| |
The caterpillars feed only on "kauri" (Agathis) and are currently considered the second most primitive living lineage of moths after Micropterigoidea.[2] The larvae have been reported to be able to survive for 12 years in diapause,[3] durability possibly a prerequisite to its possible dispersion around the Pacific islands in the seeds of Agathis.
Dumbleton described two species. Agathiphaga queenslandensis is found along the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, and its larvae feed on Agathis robusta.[4] Agathiphaga vitiensis is found from Fiji to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, and its larvae feed on Agathis vitiensis.
A fossil member of Agathiphagidae, Agathiphagama, is known from the Burmese amber of Myanmar, dating to the early Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, approximately 99 million years ago.[5]
References
- Lionel Jack Dumbleton (1952). "A new genus of seed-infesting micropterygid moths" (PDF). Pacific Science. 6: 17–29.
- N. P. Kristensen (1999). "The non-Glossatan moths". In N. P. Kristensen (ed.). Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Part 35. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 41–49.
- M. S. Upton (1997). "A twelve-year larval diapause in the Queensland kauri moth, Agathiphaga queenslandiae Dumbleton (Lepidoptera: Agathiphagidae)". The Entomologist. 116: 142–143.
- "Species Agathiphaga queenslandensis Dumbleton, 1952". Australian Faunal Directory. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. October 9, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
- Mey, Wolfram; Léger, Théo; Lien, Vu Van (2021-10-03). "New taxa of extant and fossil primitive moths in South-East Asia and their biogeographic significance (Lepidoptera, Micropterigidae, Agathiphagidae, Lophocoronidae)". Nota Lepidopterologica. 44(): 29–56. doi:10.3897/nl.44.52350. ISSN 2367-5365.
External links
- Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Agathiphaga". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum.
- Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Agathiphaga queenslandensis". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum.
- Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Agathiphaga vitiensis". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum.
- Agathiphagidae Tree of Life Web Project
- "Agathiphaga queenslandensis Dumbleton, 1952". Australian Moths Online. CSIRO Entomology. Archived from the original on 2006-09-03.
