Zygaenoidea

Dalcera abrasa, copyright Bernard Dupont.

Belongs within: Apoditrysia.
Contains: Limacodidae, Lacturidae, Procris, Zygaena.

The Zygaenoidea are a group of moths with slug-like larvae that often feed exposed. The proboscis is well developed in members of the Zygaenidae but reduced or absent in other families. Adult Zygaenidae, known as burnets or foresters, often fly and feed on flowers during the day. Larvae of the family Epipyropidae are ectoparasites on fulgoroid planthoppers (Nielsen & Common 1991).

Characters (from Nielsen & Common 1991): Small to large; ocelli and chaetosemata present or absent; M often present in cell, CuP usually present, hind wing with Sc+R₁ not approximate to Rs beyond cell. Larva stout, sluggish, feeding exposed or ectoparasitic on planthoppers or in ant nests. Pupa relatively broad and short, with dorsal spines, and spiracles of first abdominal segment visible (except in Epipyropidae); protruded at ecdysis.

<==Zygaenoidea GE05
    |--+--+--Limacodidae KP19
    |  |  `--Dalcera [Dalceridae, Dalcerinae] KP19
    |  |       |--D. abrasa KP19
    |  |       |--D. ampela D01
    |  |       `--D. necoda Druce 1901 D01
    |  `--Megalopygidae [Lagoidae] KP19
    |       |--Lagoa crispata P27
    |       |--Trosia KP19
    |       `--Megalopyge KP19
    |            |--M. crispata KP19
    |            `--M. lanata (Cramer 1780) [incl. Rhabdosia tharops (Stoll 1781)] NO08
    `--+--Lacturidae KP19
       `--Zygaenidae NC91
            |  i. s.: Levuana iridescens H91
            |         Heteropan dolens H91
            |         Pollanisus NC91
            |           |--P. iridescens P27
            |           |--P. nielseni ZS10
            |           |--P. trimaculus C91
            |           `--P. viridipulverulenta NC91
            |         Hystiaea DS73
            |           |--H. amazonica DS73
            |           `--H. proserpina DS73
            |         Erasmia GE05
            |           |--E. aliris DS73
            |           |--E. pulchella DS73
            |           `--E. sanguiflua DS73
            |         Rjabovia Efetov & Tarmann 1995 F05
            |           `--*R. horni (Alberti 1937) [=Procris horni] F05
            |         Solaniterna Efetov 2004 F05
            |           `--*S. subsolana (Staudinger 1862) [=Ino subsolana] F05
            |         Tremewania Efetov & Tarmann 1999 F05
            |           `--*T. notata (Zeller 1847) [=Atychia notata] F05
            |         Wiegelia Efetov & Tarman 1995 F05
            |           `--*W. amasina (Herrich-Schäffer 1851) [=Procris amasina] F05
            |         Thyrassia inconcinna NC91
            |         Hestiochora Meyrick 1886 M86
            |           |--H. erythrota Meyrick 1886 M86
            |           |--H. rufiventris [=Procris rufiventris] M86
            |           |--H. tricolor [=Procris tricolor] M86
            |           `--H. xanthocoma Meyrick 1886 M86
            |         Burlacena aegerioides NC91
            |         Onceropyga NC91
            |         Brachartona catoxantha Z93
            |         Homophylotis C70
            |         Setiodes bahamensis Dyar 1899 H01
            |         Cacosoma Felder in Felder & Rogenhofer 1874 E00
            |         Himantopterus [Himantopteridae, Thymaridae] RD77
            |--Charideinae NC91
            |--Procris NC91
            |--Zygaena KP19
            |--Phaudinae RD77
            `--Chalcosiinae [Chalcosiidae] DS73
                 |--Clelea sapphirina WM66
                 |--Phalanna polymena WM66
                 |--Elcysma westwoodii RD77, KVV96
                 |--Cadphises DS73
                 |    |--C. maculata DS73
                 |    `--C. moorei DS73
                 `--Histia rhodope RD77, F92
                      |--H. r. rhodope F92
                      `--H. r. nigrinus F92

Zygaenoidea incertae sedis:
  Heterogynis [Heterogynidae] RD77
  Chrysopolomidae NC91
  Somabrachyidae NC91
  Cyclotorna NC91 [Cyclotornidae GE05]
    |--C. egena NC91
    `--C. monocentra NC91
  Epipyropidae GE05
    |--Epipomponia nawai KP19
    |--Heteropsyche NC91
    |    |--H. melanochroma NC91
    |    `--H. schawerdae A71
    `--Fulgoraecia A71
         |--F. cerolestes A71
         `--F. eurybrachydis A71

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A71] Askew, R. R. 1971. Parasitic Insects. Heinemann Educational Books: London.

[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.

[C91] CSIRO. 1991. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 1. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

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

[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.

[E00] Engel, M. S. 2000. Classification of the bee tribe Augochlorini (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 250: 1–89.

[F92] Fan Z. 1992. Key to the Common Flies of China 2^nd ed. Science Press: Beijing.

[F05] Fernández, J. 2005. Noticia de nuevos táxones para la ciencia en el ámbito Íbero-Balear y Macaronésico. Nuevos táxones animales descritos en la península Ibérica y Macaronesia desde 1994 (IX). Graellsia 61 (2): 261–282.

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

[H01] Hampson, G. F. 1901. The Lepidoptera-Phalaenae of the Bahamas. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 7: 246–261.

[H91] Howarth, F. G. 1991. Environmental impacts of classical biological control. Annual Review of Entomology 36: 485–509.

[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.

[KVV96] Kroon, A., R. L. Voenendaal & A. Veerman. 1996. Does the spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch (Tetranychidae) respond to photoperiod in a quantitative manner? In: Mitchell, R., D. J. Horn, G. R. Needham & W. C. Welbourn (eds) Acarology IX vol. 1. Proceedings pp. 5–7. Ohio Biological Survey: Columbus (Ohio).

[M86] Meyrick, E. 1886. Revision of Australian Lepidoptera. I. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (3): 687–802.

[NO08] Nässig, W. A., & R. G. Oberprieler. 2008. An annotated catalogue of the genera of Eupterotidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Bombycoidea). Senckenbergiana Biologica 88 (1): 53–80.

[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).

[P27] Philpott, A. 1927. 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.

[WM66] Wallace, A. R., & F. Moore. 1866. List of lepidopterous insects collected at Takow, Formosa, by Mr. R. Swinhoe. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 355–365.

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

[Z93] Zimmerman, E. C. 1993. Australian Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) vol. 3. Nanophyidae, Rhynchophoridae, Erirhinidae, Curculionidae: Amycterinae, literature consulted. CSIRO Australia.

Last updated: 24 April 2022.