Agathiphaga

Agathiphaga
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Clade:Euarthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Lepidoptera
Suborder:Aglossata
Speidel, 1977
Superfamily:Agathiphagoidea
N. P. Kristensen, 1967
Family:Agathiphagidae
N. P. Kristensen, 1967
Genus:Agathiphaga
Dumbleton, 1952
Species

Agathiphaga is a genus of moths in the family Agathiphagidae, known as kauri moths. This caddis fly-like lineage of primitive moths was first reported by Lionel Jack Dumbleton in 1952, as a new genus of Micropterigidae.[1]

The caterpillars feed only on "kauri" (Agathis) and are currently considered the second most primitive living lineage of moths after Micropterigoidea.[2] The larva has been reported to be able to survive for 12 years in diapause,[3] durability possibly a prerequisite to its possible dispersion around the Pacific islands in the seeds of Agathis.

Dumbleton described two species. Agathiphaga queenslandensis is found along the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, and its larvae feed on Agathis robusta.[4] Agathiphaga vitiensis is found from Fiji to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, and its larvae feed on Agathis vitiensis.

References

  1. ↑ Lionel Jack Dumbleton (1952). "A new genus of seed-infesting micropterygid moths" (PDF). Pacific Science. 6: 17–29.
  2. ↑ N. P. Kristensen (1999). "The non-Glossatan moths". In N. P. Kristensen. Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Part 35. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 41–49.
  3. ↑ M. S. Upton (1997). "A twelve-year larval diapause in the Queensland kauri moth, Agathiphaga queenslandiae Dumbleton (Lepidoptera: Agathiphagidae)". The Entomologist. 116: 142–143.
  4. ↑ "Species Agathiphaga queenslandensis Dumbleton, 1952". Australian Faunal Directory. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. October 9, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  • Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Agathiphaga". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum.
  • Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Agathiphaga queenslandensis". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum.
  • Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Agathiphaga vitiensis". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum.
  • Agathiphagidae Tree of Life Web Project
  • "Agathiphaga queenslandensis Dumbleton, 1952". Australian Moths Online. CSIRO Entomology. Archived from the original on 2006-09-03.
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