Tischerioidea is the superfamily of "trumpet" leaf miner moths.
This is one candidate as the sister group (see also Palaephatoidea) of the bulk of Lepidoptera, the Ditrysia (Davis, 1999; Wiegmann et al., 2002), and they have a monotrysian type of female reproductive system. The superfamily contains just one family and traditionally one genus, Tischeria, but currently three genera are recognised, widespread across the World including South America (Davis, 1986), except for Australasia (Puplesis and Diskus, 2003). These small moths are leaf-miners in the caterpillar stage, feeding mainly on Fagaceae (Tischeria and Coptotriche), Asteraceae and Malvaceae (Astrotischeria), and some also on Rhamnaceae, Tiliaceae and Rosaceae.
References
- Davis D.R. (1986). A new family of monotrysian moth from austral South America (Lepidoptera: Palaephatidae), with a phylogenetic review of the Monotrysia. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 434: 1-202.
- Davis, D.R. (1999). The Monotrysian Heteroneura. Ch. 6, pp. 65–90 in Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.). Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches / 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.
- Puplesis, R. & Diskus,A. (2003). The Nepticuloidea and Tischerioidea (Lepidoptera) - a Global Review with Strategic Regional Revisions. 512 pp. Apollo books. ISBN 9955-575-09-3.
- Wiegmann, B.M., Regier, J.C. and Mitter, C. (2002). Combined molecular and morphological evidence on the phylogeny of the earliest lepidopteran lineages. Zoologica Scripta, 31(1): 67-81. doi:10.1046/j.0300-3256.2001.00091.x
Sources
- Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders, edited by Christopher O'Toole, ISBN 1-55297-612-2, 2002
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