Selidosemidae

Male (left) and female (right) specimens of Selidosema suavis, from here.

Belongs within: Lepidoptera.

The Selidosemidae is a cosmopolitan family of moths.

Characters (from Meyrick 1895): Imago with body slender to rather stout, forewings broad to rather elongate, triangular; hindwings with vein 5 imperfect (not tubular) or obsolete, 6 and 7 usually separate, 8 usually obsoletely connected with upper margin of cell near base, approximated to near middle. Posterior tibiae of male often enlarged and enclosing an expansible tuft of hairs. Ovum subcylindrical or elongate-ovate, more or less reticulated, sometimes ribbed. Larva elongate, more or less slender, with few hairs, without developed prolegs on 7, 8 and usually 9; often remarkably like a twig of its food-plant. Pupa subterranean or in a slight cocoon above ground.

<==Selidosemidae
    |--Chalastra pelurgata T27
    |--Gonophylla nelsonaria T27
    |--Ipana leptomera T27
    |--Azelina T27
    |    |--A. grallaria T27
    |    `--A. ophiopa T27
    `--Selidosema P27
         |--S. argentaria L27
         |--S. aristarcha T27
         |--S. campbelli Philpott 1927 P27
         |--S. dejectaria P27
         |--S. leucelaea L27
         |--S. melinata L27
         |--S. panagrata T27
         |--S. productata T27
         `--S. suavis L27

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[L27] Lindsay, S. 1927. A list of the Lepidoptera of Deans Bush, Riccarton, Canterbury. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 693-696.

Meyrick, E. 1895. A Handbook of British Lepidoptera. Macmillan and Co.: London.

[P27] Philpott, A. 1927. New Zealand Lepidoptera: Notes and descriptions. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 703-709.

[T27] Thomson, G. M. 1927. The pollination of New Zealand flowers by birds and insects. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 106-125.