Hepialidae
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 Triodia sylvina
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The Hepialidae is a family of insects in the lepidopteran order. Moths of this family are often referred to as swifts or ghost moths.
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[edit] Taxonomy and systematics
Hepialidae constitute by far the most diverse group of the infraorder Exoporia. There are 60 genera and at least 587 currently recognised species of these primitive moths recorded worldwide. The genera Fraus (endemic to Australia), Gazoryctra (Holarctic), Afrotheora (Southern African), and Antihepialus (African) are considered to be the most primitive, containing four genera and about 51 species with a mostly relictual southern Gondwanan distribution and are currently separated from the Hepialidae sensu stricto which might form a natural, derived group (Nielsen et al., 2000). The most diverse genera are Oxycanus with 73 species, Endoclita with 60 species, Thitarodes with 51 species and Cibyra with 50 species (Nielsen et al., 2000, who provide a comprehensive catalogue of Exoporia including country of origin). The relationships of the many genera are not yet well established; the order of the list here follows Nielsen et al. (2000).
[edit] Morphology and identification
The family Hepialidae is considered to be very primitive with a number of structural differences to other moths including very short antennae and lack of a proboscis or frenulum (see Kristensen, 1999: 61-62 for details). Like other Exoporia the sperm is transferred to the egg by a external channel between the "ostium" and the ovipore. Other non-ditrysian moths have a common cloaca (Nielsen et al., 2000). The moths are "homoneurous" with similar forewings and hindwings and are sometimes included as 'honorary' members of the Macrolepidoptera. Strictly speaking they are phylogenetically too basal and constitute Microlepidoptera, although hepialids range from very small moths to a wingspan record of 520 mm in Zelotypia (Nielsen et al., 2000). Because of their sometimes large size and striking colour patterns, they have received relatively more popular and taxonomic attention than most "micros". Many species display strong sexual dimorphism with males smaller but more boldly marked than females.
[edit] Distribution
Hepialidae are distributed on ancient landmasses worldwide except Antarctica but with the surprising exceptions of Madagascar, the Caribbean islands and in Africa, Tropical West Africa. It remains to be borne out if these absences are real as the family was not long ago discovered in New Caledonia. In the Oriental and Neotropical regions hepialids have diversified in rainforest environments but this not apparently the case in the Afrotropics (Nielsen et al., 2000). Hepialids mostly have low dispersive powers and do not occur on Oceanic islands with the exception of Phassodes on Fiji and Western Samoa and a few species in Japan and Kurile Islands. Whilst the type locality of Eudalaca sanctahelena is from the remote island of St Helena, this is thought to be an error for South Africa (Nielsen et al., 2000: 859).
[edit] Behaviour
Swift moths are crepuscular and some species form "leks". In most genera, males fly swiftly to virgin females that are calling with scent. In other genera, virgin females "assemble" upwind to displaying males (Mallet, 1984), which emit a musky pheromone from scales on the metatibiae. In such cases of sex role reversal, there may be visual cues also: males of the European Ghost Swift are possibly the most frequently noticed species, being white, ghostly and conspicuous when forming a lek at dusk (Andersson et al., 1998). Sometimes they hover singly as if suspended from a thread or flying in a figure of eight motion (Nielsen et al., 2000). The chemical structure of some pheromones have been analysed (e.g. Schultz et al., 1990).
[edit] Biology
The larvae feed in a variety of ways. All Exoporia have concealed larvae, making silken tunnels in all manner of substrates. Some species feed on leaf litter, fungi, mosses, decaying vegetation, ferns, gymnosperms and a wide span of monocot and dicot plants (Nielsen et al, 2000). There is very little evidence of hostplant specialisation; whilst the South African species Leto venus is restricted to the tree Virgilia capensis this may be a case of "ecological monophagy" (Nielsen et al., 2001). A few feed on foliage (the austral 'oxyacanine' genera which may drag foliage into their feeding tunnel: Nielsen et al, 2000: 825). Most feed underground on fine roots, at least in early instars and some then feed internally in tunnels in the stem or trunk of their hostplants. The larvae superficially resemble the maggots of Diptera. The female does not lay its eggs in a specific location but scatters ("broadcasts") them while in flight, sometimes in huge numbers (29,000 were recorded from a single female Trictena by Tindale, 1932, which is presumably a world record for the Lepidoptera).
[edit] Economic significance
Chinese medicine makes considerable use of the "mummies" collected of the caterpillar-attacking fungi Cordyceps, and these can form an expensive ingredient (Wu and Yuan, 1997; Nielsen et al., 2001) The Witchetty grub is a popular food sources especially among aboriginal Australians. However, some species of Wiseana, Oncopera, Oxyacanus, Fraus and Dalaca are considered pests of pastures in Australia, New Zealand and South America (Nielsen et al., 2001).
[edit] Fossils
Fossil Hepialidae appear to be few. Prohepialus has been described from the about 35 million year old Bembridge Marls of Isle of Wight (Jarzembowski, 1980).
[edit] Fauna of Europe
- Gazoryctra fuscoargentea - Northern Scandinavia
- G. ganna - Alps, northern Scandinavia, northern Russia
- Hepialus humuli Ghost Moth - Europe
- Korscheltellus lupulina Common Swift - Europe
- Pharmacis aemiliana - Italy
- P. anselminae - Italy
- P. bertrandi - France
- P. carna - Central and eastern Europe
- P. castillana - Spain
- P. claudiae - Italy
- P. fusconebulosa Map-winged Swift - Europe
- P. pyrenaica - Pyrenees
- Phymatopus hecta Gold Swift - Central and northern Europe
- Triodia adriaticus - Croatia, Macedonia, Greece, Crete
- T. amasinus - Balkans
- T. sylvina Orange Swift - Europe
[edit] References
- Andersson, S., Rydell, J., Svensson, M.G.E. (1998). Light, predation and the lekking behaviour of the ghost swift Hepialus humuli (L.) (Lepidoptera, Hepialidae). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 265: 1345 - 1351.
- Jarzembowski, E.A. (1980). Fossil, insects from the Bembridge Marls, Palaeogene of the Isle of Wight, southern England. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Geology), 33: 237-293.
- Kristensen, N.P., (1999). The non-Glossatan Moths. Ch. 4, pp. 41-62 in Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.). Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Band / Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Teilband / Part 35: 491 pp. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York.
- Mallet, J. 1984. Sex roles in the ghost moth Hepialus humuli (L.) with a review of mating in the Hepialidae (Lepidoptera). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 79: 67-82.
- Nielsen, E.S., Robinson, G.S. and Wagner, D.L. 2000. Ghost-moths of the world: a global inventory and bibliography of the Exoporia (Mnesarchaeoidea and Hepialoidea) (Lepidoptera) Journal of Natural History, 34(6): 823-878.Abstract
- Schulz S., Francke W., König W.A., Schurig, V., Mori K., Kittmann R. and Schneider D. (1990). Male pheromone of swift moth, Hepialus hecta L. (Lepidoptera : Hepialidae). Journal of chemical ecology, 16(12): 3511-3521.
- Tindale, N.B. (1932). Revision of the Australian ghost moths (Lepidoptera Homoneura, family Hepialidae). part 1, Records of the South Australian Museum, 4: 497-536.
- Wu, Y. and Yuan, D. (1997). Biodiversity and conservation in China: a view from entomologists. Entomologica Sinica, 4: 95-111.
[edit] Sources
- Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
- Nielsen, E.S., Robinson, G.S. and Wagner, D.L. 2000. Ghost-moths of the world: a global inventory and bibliography of the Exoporia (Mnesarchaeoidea and Hepialoidea) (Lepidoptera) Journal of Natural History, 34(6): 823-878.
- Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles 1984
[edit] External Links
- Tree of Life
- Wikispecies
- Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
- Australian Moths Online
- Hepialidae of Australia
- Hepialidae of the World - List of Genera and Links to Species
- New Zealand Wiseana
- pdf Swift Moth Lekking
- Synonymic list
- Endoclita and Hepialus pheromones
