| Nepticuloidea | |
|---|---|
| |
| Stigmella alnetella | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Infraorder: | Heteroneura |
| Clade: | Nepticulina |
| Superfamily: |
Nepticuloidea Stainton 1854 |
| Families | |
| Diversity | |
| About 900 species described | |
Nepticuloidea is a superfamily of usually very small monotrysian moths that are characterised by small or large eyecaps over the compound eyes. It comprises two families, the "pigmy moths" ( Nepticulidae), with 12 genera which are very diverse worldwide and are usually leaf miners, and the "white eyecap moths" ( Opostegidae), also worldwide but with five genera and about a ninth as many species, whose biology is less well known (Davis, 1999).
References
- 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.
Sources
- Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders, edited by Christopher O'Toole, ISBN 1-55297-612-2, 2002
External links
Wikispecies has information related to
Nepticulidae.
