Gracillariidae

Cocoa pod borer Acrocercops cramerella, from the Papua Insects Foundation.

Belongs within: Ditrysia.

The Gracillariidae are very small moths with long antennae and long fringes on the hind wings (Nielsen & Common 1991).

Characters (from Nielsen & Common 1991): Very small, slender; head usually smooth scaled; ocelli and chaetosemata absent; antennae nearly as long as, or longer than, fore wing, filiform, scape slender, usually without pecten, sometimes with small eye-cap; proboscis present, unsealed; maxillary palps slender, porrect or ascending, four-segmented, or reduced; labial palps slender, porrect or ascending; epiphysis present, spurs 0-2-4, hind tibiae smooth or with dorsal row of stiff bristles, never hairy, fore and mid tibiae sometimes thickened with scales; fore wing lanceolate or linear-lanceolate with long fringing piliform scales, R₅ to costa or apex, some veins often lost, 1A+2A without basal fork; hind wing lanceolate or linear, venation often reduced; male abdomen often with coremata on segments 7 and 8. Larva leaf- or gall-mining, at least in early stages, with heteromorphosis; early instars flattened, with large blade-like mandibles, sap-feeding, thoracic legs and prolegs absent; after second or third ecdysis larvae often feed on parenchyma, body cylindrical, thoracic legs present, prolegs on abdominal segments 3–5, crochets usually in lateral penellipse. Pupa with antennae and proboscis often extending beyond wing tips; abdomen with fine scattered dorsal spines, segments 5–7 movable in male, 5–6 in female; usually in flattened cocoon.

<==Gracillariidae [Lithocolletidae]
    |  i. s.: Parectopa formosa P27
    |         Epicephala P27
    |           |--E. chalybacma VHK02
    |           `--E. frugicola B88
    |         Geometridites larentiiformis RJ93
    |         Ornativalva plutelliformis SKR96
    |         Gracillariites P92
    |--Gracillariinae NC91
    |    |--Macarostola formosa NC91
    |    |--Caloptilia KP19
    |    |    |--C. alchimiella [=Gracilaria alchimiella] V09
    |    |    |--C. azaleella NC91
    |    |    |--C. elaeas M83
    |    |    `--C. triadicae KP19
    |    `--Gracilaria GE05
    |         |--G. chrysitis L27
    |         |--G. elaeas L27
    |         |--G. linearis P27
    |         |--G. ononidis R13
    |         |--G. selenitis P27
    |         `--G. xylophanes P27
    `--+--+--Philodoria [Ornixolinae] KP19
       |  `--Lithocolletinae KP19
       |       |--Cameraria ohridella KP19
       |       |--Lithocolletis B88
       |       |    |--L. aglaozona C70
       |       |    |--L. hamadryadella G17c
       |       |    `--L. populifolia [=Gracilaria populifolia] H04
       |       `--Phyllonorycter NC91
       |            |--P. aglaozona NC91
       |            |--P. blancardella MC02
       |            |--P. crataegella G17b
       |            |--P. hamadryadella RD77
       |            `--P. messaniella NC91
       `--+--Phyllocnistis [Phyllocnistidae, Phyllocnistinae] KP19
          |    |--P. citrella NC91
          |    |--P. diaugella NC91
          |    `--P. suffusella B88
          `--Acrocercops KP19
               |--A. antimima NC91
               |--A. calicella NC91
               |--A. chionosoma B88
               |--A. cramerella G17a
               |--A. diffluella B88
               |--A. ordinatella P27
               |--A. plebeia NC91
               |--A. transecta KP19
               `--A. tricuneatella NC91

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B88] Bouček, Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera): A biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species. CAB International: Wallingford (UK).

[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.

[G17a] Girault, A. A. 1917a. New Javanese Hymenoptera. Privately published (reprinted Gordh, G., A. S. Menke, E. C. Dahms & J. C. Hall. 1979. The privately printed papers of A. A. Girault. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 28: 59–71).

[G17b] Girault, A. A. 1917b. New chalcid flies. Privately published (reprinted Gordh, G., A. S. Menke, E. C. Dahms & J. C. Hall. 1979. The privately printed papers of A. A. Girault. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 28: 72–77).

[G17c] Girault, A. A. 1917c. Descriptiones hymenopterorum chalcidoidicarum variorum cum observationibus. V. Privately published (reprinted Gordh, G., A. S. Menke, E. C. Dahms & J. C. Hall. 1979. The privately printed papers of A. A. Girault. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 28: 116–131).

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

[H04] Haeckel, E. 1899–1904. Kunstformen der Natur. Bibliographisches Institut: Leipzig und Wien.

[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.

[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.

[M83] Martin, N. A. 1983. Miscellaneous observations on a pasture fauna: An annotated species list. DSIR Entomology Division Report 3: 1–98.

[MC02] Miliczky, E. R., & C. O. Calkins. 2002. Spiders (Araneae) as potential predators of leafroller larvae and egg masses (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in central Washington apple and pear orchards. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 78 (2): 140–150.

[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.

[P92] Poinar, G. O., Jr. 1992. Life in Amber. Stanford University Press: Stanford.

[R13] Reuter, O. M. 1913. Lebensgewohnheiten und Instinkte der Insekten bis zum Erwachen der sozialen Instinkte. R. Friedländer & Sohn: Berlin.

[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.

[SKR96] Sobhian, R., L. Knutson & J. S. Rodier. 1996. Biology and host specificity notes on Styphlus penicillus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), examined as a biological control agent for Crupina vulgaris in the United States with remarks on its host plant. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 98 (2): 317–323.

[V09] Verdcourt, B. (ed.) 2009. Additions to the Wild Fauna and Flora of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. XXVI. Miscellaneous records. Kew Bulletin 64 (1): 183–194.

[VHK02] Verma, M., M. Hayat & S. I. Kazmi. 2002. The species of Elasmus from India (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Eulophidae). Oriental Insects 36: 245–306.