Cossoidea

Larva of goat moth Cossus cossus, photographed by Thomas Laupstad.

Belongs within: Apoditrysia.

The Cossoidea are a group of moths of which the larvae are mostly wood- or stem-borers. The largest subgroup is the Cossidae, wood moths and goat moths, in which the fore wings are predominantly white or grey in coloration (Nielsen & Common 1991). The palaeotropical Metarbelidae resemble cossids in overall appearance but have a more reduced hind wing venation with vein Sc+R₁ free of the cell and vein Cu₂ absent (Richards & Davies 1977).

Characters (from Nielsen & Common 1991): Small to very large, usually robust; ocelli usually absent; chaetosemata absent; proboscis short and naked or absent; maxillary palps minute; fore wing with chorda and M in cell; S2 of tortricoid type (S2 apodemes short, broad and not connected with sternal rods).

<==Cossoidea
    |--Dudgeonea [Dudgeoneidae] NC91
    |    `--D. actinias NC91
    |--Indarbela RD77 [Metarbelidae NC91, Teragriidae]
    |    `--I. quadrinota RD77
    `--Cossidae TW05
         |  i. s.: Adelopsyche GE05
         |         Endoxyla mackeri ZS10
         |         Gurnetia durranti RJ93
         |         Duomitus D01
         |           |--D. daphne Druce 1901 D01
         |           |--D. leuconotus RD77
         |           `--D. striatus Druce 1901 D01
         |         Langsdorfia D01
         |           |--L. buckleyi Druce 1901 D01
         |           `--L. rufescens Druce 1901 D01
         |         Arbela [Arbelidae] S01
         |           |--A. disciphaga Swinhoe 1901 S01
         |           `--A. salara Druce 1900 D00
         |--+--Spinulata [Cossulinae] KP19
         |  |    `--S. maruga KP19
         |  `--Cossinae KP19
         |       |--Macrocyttara expressa NC91
         |       |--Ptilomacra senex C70, NC91
         |       |--Charmoses C70
         |       |--Idioses littleri C70, NC91
         |       |--Chilecomadia C70
         |       |--Prionoxystus robiniae KP19
         |       |--Cossus DS73
         |       |    |--C. cossus DS73 [incl. C. ligniperda RD77, Hepialus ligniperda L02]
         |       |    `--C. terebra DS73
         |       `--Culama KP19
         |            |--C. australis NC91
         |            `--C. rhytiphorus NC91
         `--+--+--Archaeoses polygrapha KP19
            |  `--Castniidae [Castnioidea] AY04
            |       |--Telchin licus KP19
            |       |--Tascinia RD77
            |       |--Dominickus castnioides Tindale 1985 RJ93
            |       |--Castnia RD77
            |       |    |--C. icarus G20
            |       |    `--C. licus RD77
            |       `--Synemon KP19
            |            |--S. directa P27b
            |            |--S. hesperoides P27b
            |            |--S. icaria C70
            |            |--S. laeta NC91
            |            |--S. magnifica NC91
            |            |--S. plana KP19
            |            `--S. sophia C74
            `--+--Givira [Hypoptinae] KP19
               |    `--G. mucida KP19
               `--Zeuzerinae KP19
                    |--Morphneis pyracmon KP19
                    |--Psychonoctua personalis KP19
                    |--Zeuzera GE05
                    |    |--Z. aeetes Druce 1901 D01
                    |    |--Z. aesculi G20
                    |    |--Z. coffeae P27b
                    |    `--Z. pyrina (Linnaeus 1761) JP05
                    `--Xyleutes NC91
                         |--X. affinis NC91
                         |--X. amphiplecta NC91
                         |--X. boisduvali Roths. 1896 P27a
                         |--X. cinereus NC91
                         |--X. durvillei C70
                         |--X. encalypti NC91
                         |--X. leucomochla W91
                         |--X. persona ZS10
                         `--X. redtembacheri Hammerschmidt 1847 C-MF13

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[AY04] Austin, A. D., D. K. Yeates, G. Cassis, M. J. Fletcher, J. La Salle, J. F. Lawrence, P. B. McQuillan, L. A. Mound, D. J. Bickel, P. J. Gullan, D. F. Hales & G. S. Taylor. 2004. Insects ‘Down Under’—diversity, endemism and evolution of the Australian insect fauna: examples from select orders. Australian Journal of Entomology 43 (3): 216–234.

[C70] Common, I. F. B. 1970. Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 765–866. Melbourne University Press.

[C74] Common, I. F. B. 1974. Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers. Supplement 1974 pp. 98–107. Melbourne University Press.

[C-MF13] Cupul-Magaña, F. G., & O. F. Francke. 2013. Tres especies de alacranes (Scorpiones: Buthidae y Vaejovidae) embotellados en mezcal mexicano. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 22: 123–124.

[DS73] Dickens, M., & E. Storey. 1973. The World of Moths. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.: New York.

[D00] Druce, H. 1900. Descriptions of some new genera and species of Heterocera from tropical South America. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 5: 507–527.

[D01] Druce, H. 1901. Descriptions of some new species of Lepidoptera from east Africa and tropical America. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 7: 432–444.

[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.

[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.

[JP05] Jungmann, E., & U. Poller. 2005. Neunachweise und Wiederfunde für die Schmetterlingsfauna (Insecta; Lepidoptera) des Altenburger Landes. Mauritiana 19 (2): 317–326.

[KP19] Kawahara, A. Y., D. Plotkin, M. Espeland, K. Meusemann, E. F. A. Toussaint, A. Donath, F. Gimnich, P. B. Frandsen, A. Zwick, M. dos Reis, J. R. Barber, R. S. Peters, S. Liu, X. Zhou, C. Mayer, L. Podsiadlowski, C. Storer, J. E. Yack, B. Misof & J. W. Breinholt. 2019. Phylogenomics reveals the evolutionary timing and pattern of butterflies and moths. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 116 (45): 22657–22663.

[L02] Latreille, P. A. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière des crustacés et des insectes vol. 3. Familles naturelles des genres. F. Dufart: Paris.

[NC91] Nielsen, E. S., & I. F. B. Common. 1991. Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 817–915. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[P27a] Philpott, A. 1927a. New Zealand Lepidoptera: notes and descriptions. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 703–709.

[P27b] Philpott, A. 1927b. The maxillae in the Lepidoptera. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 721–746.

[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms' General Textbook of Entomology 10^th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.

[RJ93] Ross, A. J., & E. A. Jarzembowski. 1993. Arthropoda (Hexapoda; Insecta). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 363–426. Chapman & Hall: London.

[S01] Swinhoe, C. 1901. New genera and species of eastern and Australian moths. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 7: 463–473.

[TW05] Terry, M. D., & M. F. Whiting. 2005. Mantophasmatodea and phylogeny of the lower neopterous insects. Cladistics 21: 240–257.

[W91] Waterhouse, D. F. 1991. Insects and humans in Australia. In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 1 pp. 221–235. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[ZS10] Zborowski, P., & R. Storey. 2010. A Field Guide to Insects in Australia 3^rd ed. Reed New Holland: Sydney.

Last updated: 24 April 2022.