Axia

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Axia

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Suborder:	Glossata
Infraorder:	Heteroneura
(unranked)	Ditrysia
Superfamily:	Cimelioidea
Family:	Cimeliidae
Genus:	Axia Hübner, 1821

Species

Axia margarita (Hübner 1813)
Axia napoleona Schawerda, 1926
Axia nesiota Reisser 1962
Axia olga (Staudinger, 1899)
Axia vaulogeri Staudinger, 1892

Synonyms

Timia Boisduval, 1828
Cimelia Lederer, 1853
Cimetimia Chrétien, 1916

Axia or the "Gold Moths" is a genus of moths whose precise relationships within the Macrolepidoptera [2] are currently uncertain, but they currently represent a superfamily whose nearest relatives include the butterflies, Calliduloidea, Drepanoidea, Geometroidea, Bombycoidea, Mimallonoidea and Lasiocampoidea, and the Noctuoidea. Uniquely, they have a pair of pocket-like organs on the seventh abdominal spiracle of the adult moth ^[1] which are only possibly sound receptive organs ^[2]. They are quite large and brightly coloured moths that occur only in Southern Europe and feed on species of Euphorbia. Sometimes they are attracted to light ^[1].

One species, Epicimelia theresiae, was formerly included in this genus, but has since been recognized as distinct; it is the only other described species in the family.^[3]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b J. Minet (1999). "The Axioidea and Calliduloidea", in N. P. Kristensen: Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin & New York, 257-261.
^ J. Minet & A. Surlykke (2003). "Auditory and sound producing organs", in N. P. Kristensen: Lepidoptera, moths and butterflies. Volume 2: Morphology and Physiology. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 289-323.
^ [1] Shen-Horn Yen and Joël Minet (2007) Cimelioidea: A New Superfamily Name for the Gold Moths (Lepidoptera: Glossata). Zoological Studies 46(3): 262-271

[edit] Sources

De Freina, J.J. and Witt, T.J, (1987) Die Bombyces und Sphinges der Westpalearktis.; ISBN 3-926285-00-1
Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders, edited by Christopher O'Toole, ISBN 1-55297-612-2, 2002