Blastobasidae
Encyclopedia
Blastobasidae is a family
of moth
s in the superfamily
Gelechioidea
. Its species
can be found almost anywhere in the world, though in some places they are not native but introduced by humans. In some arrangements, these moths are included in the case-bearer family (Coleophoridae) as subfamily Blastobasinae. The Symmocidae
are sometimes included in the Blastobasidae (particularly if both are included in Coleophoridae) as subfamily or tribe
.
In addition, the group around Holcocera
is often separated as subfamily Holcocerinae (or tribe Holcocerini) from the Blastobasis
lineage (which correspondingly become a subfamily, or a tribe Blastobasini). While this seems far more reasonable than some of the more extreme arrangements sometimes seen in Gelechioidea taxonomy
and systematics
, the relationships among Blastobasidae genera are not yet sufficiently studied to allow a well-supported subdivision of this family.
(adults) are generally small, slender moths which at a casual glance lack conspicuous and characteristic features – noted entomologist Edward Meyrick
once described the group as "obscure and dull coloured moths, decidedly the least attractive family of Lepidoptera
". Their coloration is usually reddish-brown, without crisp streaks or large wingspots.
The head is smooth, with moderately long antennae
(slightly more than half as long as the forewings) which are each situated halfway down the head. As usual for moths, the antennae do not have clubs; even in the males they are smooth or almost so and not at all comb-like. The antenna base bears a small brush of dense hairs and is flat, with a concave underside and may cover part of the compound eyes. The Blastobasidae have few or no bristles on the compound eyes, no ocelli, and probably lack chaetosemata too. The mouthparts are well-developed and moderately specialized, with 4-segmented folding maxillary palps, long labial palps and a long proboscis with a scaly base. The tibia
e of the forelegs are enlarged at the end, those of the middle legs two spurs, and those of the hundlegs 4 spurs and many long thin hairs.
Wingspan
in this family is about one to two dozen millimeters, more than ten times as much as the thorax
width. The forewings lack a tornus and are about 4-5 times as long as they are wide, with a convex outer margin and a rather blunt tip. The round-tipped hindwings are very narrow, of equal or somewhat less length as the forewings, to which they are joined with a frenulum
. The edge of the hindwings is surrounded by a fringe of hairs about two times as long as the wing is wide.
The wing venation of forewings and hindwings differs. The forewing has 12 veins altogether, with two anal veins – vein 1b and 1c, the former of which forks proximally – and a distally complete tubular vein (1c). The transverse vein is complete, and the discal cell has no tubular vein running through its middle. By contrast, the hindwings have 7 or 8 veins. Their anal veins are 1b and 1c like on the forewings; they lack vein 1a but also have the tubular vein 1c. Vein 1b may fork as in the forewings or remain unbranched, while a transverse vein may be present or not. Usually, 5 veins arise from the hindwing cell, of which the fourth and fifth are proximally joined; Blastobasis
however might only have 4 cell veins, with veins 3 and 5 joined and vein 4 missing, but this is not universally accepted. Hindwing vein 8 either runs along the upper cell margin initially and anastomizes with it; possibly, it arises from the cell margin in some species, but in neither case it runs close to vein 7.
The caterpillar
s (larva
e) have 10 proleg
s and feed openly, usually on dead organic matter. Some species are pests of stored foodstuffs. The pupa
e are concealed and are not protruded during hatching.
of Blastobasidae presently recognized are small or even monotypic
, though Auximobasis
and Pigritia
are fairly diverse and Blastobasis
and Holcocera
are quite large. Such an arrangement is suspicious of not representing the true phylogeny of the family adequately; with few species having been compared in sufficient detail in recent times, it is to be expected that as better data becomes available the two large genera will be split up, and/or several small genera will not be maintained as distinct. Thus, the following list is likely to change in the future:
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s in the superfamily
Taxonomic rank
In biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...
Gelechioidea
Gelechioidea
| name = Curved-horn moths| image = Xylorycta assimilis.jpg| image_width = 240px| image_caption = Adult Xylorycta assimilis of the Xyloryctidae, photographed in Aranda Note prominent "horns" and long antennae| regnum = Animalia| phylum = Arthropoda...
. Its species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
can be found almost anywhere in the world, though in some places they are not native but introduced by humans. In some arrangements, these moths are included in the case-bearer family (Coleophoridae) as subfamily Blastobasinae. The Symmocidae
Symmocidae
The Symmocidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. These small moths are found mainly in the Palearctic and Africa.They have traditionally been considered close relatives of the Blastobasidae, where they were sometimes included as subfamily Symmocinae...
are sometimes included in the Blastobasidae (particularly if both are included in Coleophoridae) as subfamily or tribe
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...
.
In addition, the group around Holcocera
Holcocera
Holcocera is a gelechoid moth genus of the family Blastobasidae....
is often separated as subfamily Holcocerinae (or tribe Holcocerini) from the Blastobasis
Blastobasis
Blastobasis is the type genus of the gelechioid moth family Blastobasidae; in some arrangements these are placed in the case-bearer family as a subfamily...
lineage (which correspondingly become a subfamily, or a tribe Blastobasini). While this seems far more reasonable than some of the more extreme arrangements sometimes seen in Gelechioidea taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
and systematics
Systematics
Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of terrestrial life, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees...
, the relationships among Blastobasidae genera are not yet sufficiently studied to allow a well-supported subdivision of this family.
Description and ecology
The imaginesImago
In biology, the imago is the last stage of development of an insect, after the last ecdysis of an incomplete metamorphosis, or after emergence from the pupa where the metamorphosis is complete...
(adults) are generally small, slender moths which at a casual glance lack conspicuous and characteristic features – noted entomologist Edward Meyrick
Edward Meyrick
Edward Meyrick FRS was an English schoolmaster and amateur entomologist. He was an expert on microlepidoptera and some consider him one of the founders of modern Microlepidoptera systematics....
once described the group as "obscure and dull coloured moths, decidedly the least attractive family of Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
". Their coloration is usually reddish-brown, without crisp streaks or large wingspots.
The head is smooth, with moderately long antennae
Antenna (biology)
Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
(slightly more than half as long as the forewings) which are each situated halfway down the head. As usual for moths, the antennae do not have clubs; even in the males they are smooth or almost so and not at all comb-like. The antenna base bears a small brush of dense hairs and is flat, with a concave underside and may cover part of the compound eyes. The Blastobasidae have few or no bristles on the compound eyes, no ocelli, and probably lack chaetosemata too. The mouthparts are well-developed and moderately specialized, with 4-segmented folding maxillary palps, long labial palps and a long proboscis with a scaly base. The tibia
Tibia
The tibia , shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates , and connects the knee with the ankle bones....
e of the forelegs are enlarged at the end, those of the middle legs two spurs, and those of the hundlegs 4 spurs and many long thin hairs.
Wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
in this family is about one to two dozen millimeters, more than ten times as much as the thorax
Thorax
The thorax is a division of an animal's body that lies between the head and the abdomen.-In tetrapods:...
width. The forewings lack a tornus and are about 4-5 times as long as they are wide, with a convex outer margin and a rather blunt tip. The round-tipped hindwings are very narrow, of equal or somewhat less length as the forewings, to which they are joined with a frenulum
Frenulum
A frenulum is a small fold of tissue that secures or restricts the motion of a mobile organ in the body.-In human anatomy:...
. The edge of the hindwings is surrounded by a fringe of hairs about two times as long as the wing is wide.
The wing venation of forewings and hindwings differs. The forewing has 12 veins altogether, with two anal veins – vein 1b and 1c, the former of which forks proximally – and a distally complete tubular vein (1c). The transverse vein is complete, and the discal cell has no tubular vein running through its middle. By contrast, the hindwings have 7 or 8 veins. Their anal veins are 1b and 1c like on the forewings; they lack vein 1a but also have the tubular vein 1c. Vein 1b may fork as in the forewings or remain unbranched, while a transverse vein may be present or not. Usually, 5 veins arise from the hindwing cell, of which the fourth and fifth are proximally joined; Blastobasis
Blastobasis
Blastobasis is the type genus of the gelechioid moth family Blastobasidae; in some arrangements these are placed in the case-bearer family as a subfamily...
however might only have 4 cell veins, with veins 3 and 5 joined and vein 4 missing, but this is not universally accepted. Hindwing vein 8 either runs along the upper cell margin initially and anastomizes with it; possibly, it arises from the cell margin in some species, but in neither case it runs close to vein 7.
The caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s (larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e) have 10 proleg
Proleg
A Proleg is the small fleshy, stub structure found on the ventral surface of the abdomen of most larval forms of insects of the order Lepidoptera, though they can also be found on other larval insects such as sawflies and a few types of flies....
s and feed openly, usually on dead organic matter. Some species are pests of stored foodstuffs. The pupa
Pupa
A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is found only in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa and imago...
e are concealed and are not protruded during hatching.
Genera
Most of the roughly 30 generaGenera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
of Blastobasidae presently recognized are small or even monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
, though Auximobasis
Auximobasis
Auximobasis is a genus of the gelechioid moth family Blastobasidae. It is sometimes included in Blastobasis.Species include:* Auximobasis normalis Meyrick, 1918...
and Pigritia
Pigritia
Pigritia is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
are fairly diverse and Blastobasis
Blastobasis
Blastobasis is the type genus of the gelechioid moth family Blastobasidae; in some arrangements these are placed in the case-bearer family as a subfamily...
and Holcocera
Holcocera
Holcocera is a gelechoid moth genus of the family Blastobasidae....
are quite large. Such an arrangement is suspicious of not representing the true phylogeny of the family adequately; with few species having been compared in sufficient detail in recent times, it is to be expected that as better data becomes available the two large genera will be split up, and/or several small genera will not be maintained as distinct. Thus, the following list is likely to change in the future:
- AgnoeaAgnoeaAgnoea is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- AsaphocritaAsaphocritaAsaphocrita is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- AuximobasisAuximobasisAuximobasis is a genus of the gelechioid moth family Blastobasidae. It is sometimes included in Blastobasis.Species include:* Auximobasis normalis Meyrick, 1918...
- BlastobasisBlastobasisBlastobasis is the type genus of the gelechioid moth family Blastobasidae; in some arrangements these are placed in the case-bearer family as a subfamily...
- BlastobasoidesBlastobasoidesBlastobasoides is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- ConiogenesConiogenesConiogenes is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- CritoxenaCritoxenaCritoxena is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- DocostomaDocostomaDocostoma is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- EubolepiaEubolepiaEubolepia is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- EuresiaEuresiaEuresia is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
(sometimes in Blastobasis) - ExapateterExapateterExapateter is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- ExinotisExinotisExinotis is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- HolcoceraHolcoceraHolcocera is a gelechoid moth genus of the family Blastobasidae....
- HolcocerinaHolcocerinaHolcocerina is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- "Holcoceroides" Sinev, 1986 (non Strand, 1913: preoccupiedHolcoceroidesHolcoceroides is a monotypic genus of carpenter moths .It includes only the species Holcoceroides ferrugineotincta and is doubtfully distinct from Holcocerus. Like the latter, its relationships to other Cossidae are not determined with certainty....
) - HomothamnisHomothamnisHomothamnis is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- HypatopaHypatopaHypatopa is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
(sometimes in Holcocera) - IconismaIconismaIconisma is a genus of moths in the family Blastobasidae.- Species of Iconisma :Currently, two species are known for this genus.* Iconisma macrocera* Iconisma rosmarinella...
- LateantennaLateantennaLateantenna is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- MastemaMastema (moth)Mastema is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- Megaceraea
- MetallocratesMetallocratesMetallocrates is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- NeoblastobasisNeoblastobasisNeoblastobasis is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- OroclintrusOroclintrusOroclintrus is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- PigritiaPigritiaPigritia is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- ProsintisProsintisProsintis is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- PseudohypatopaPseudohypatopaPseudohypatopa is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae.-Selected species:* Pseudohypatopa longicornutella * Pseudohypatopa pulverea Mayrick * Pseudohypatopa beljaevi...
- PseudopigritiaPseudopigritiaPseudopigritia is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- SyncolaSyncolaSyncola is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- TecmeriumTecmeriumTecmerium is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- XenopathiaXenopathiaXenopathia is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
- ZenodochiumZenodochiumZenodochium is a genus of moth in the family Blastobasidae....
(sometimes in Blastobasis)
External links
See also Gelechioidea Talk page for comparison of some approaches to gelechioid systematics and taxonomy.- Savela, Markku (2001): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Blastobasidae.