A catalogue of Indian Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera)
Author
Singh, Navneet
0000-0002-6657-7983
nsgill007@gmail.com
Author
Ranjan, Rahul
0000-0003-4983-0403
rranjan720@gmail.com
Author
Talukdar, Avishek
0000-0002-4808-2901
avi.talukdar@rediffmail.com
Author
Joshi, Rahul
0000-0001-8514-1272
joshiarctiidae@gmail.com
Author
Kirti, Jagbir Singh
0000-0002-9670-5931
prjagbir2005@gmail.com
Author
Chandra, Kailash
kailash611@rediffmail.com
Author
Mally, Richard
0000-0001-5996-9471
spilomallynae@gmail.com
text
Zootaxa
2022
2022-10-25
5197
1
1
423
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5197.1.1
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5197.1.1
1175-5326
7252292
CCE28335-B063-47A5-8EFA-904B5B5BC99B
2.10.
Scopariinae
Diversity and distribution:
found on all continents, including remote oceanic islands, and preferably inhabit humid habitats in tropical mountains and temperate regions (
Nuss 2005b
). Globally, they comprise 587 species in 20 genera (Nuss
et al.
2003–2022,
Léger
et al.
2020
). In
India
, 21 species in three genera are reported, representing 3.57% of global diversity of
Scopariinae
. Of the three genera reported from
India
,
Eudonia
Billberg
,
Micraglossa
Warren
and
Scoparia
Haworth
, the first two are known by less than 10 species, and the latter is present with 16 species. In
India
, the
Scopariinae
are most diverse in the the central Himalaya, followed by the Western Ghats, West- and North West Himalaya and the North East. No
Scopariinae
are recorded from the Trans-Himalaya, the Deserts, the Semi-Arid and Islands biogeographic zones (
Fig. 29
).
FIGURE 29.
Species diversity of
Indian
Scopariinae
in different biogeographic zones/zones.
Adult characters:
small to medium-sized moths with a typical slender triangular resting position of their shallowly tented wings. With their cryptic wing maculation of various tones of grey and brown, they are well camouflaged on tree bark, rocks and lichens. The typical “scopariine forewing pattern” of an antemedian line connected with the proximal discoidal and cubital stigma as well as a characteristically X-shaped distal discoidal stigma at the discal cell’s distal end is unique among
Pyraloidea
. The head features porrect labial palpi and well-developed upturned maxillary palpi. The forewings often bear tufts of raised scales. A synapomorphic character, suggesting the monophyly of
Scopariinae
, is the female genitalia’s appendix bursae that attaches anteriorly on the corpus bursae. The three
Indian
genera
Eudonia
Billberg
,
Micraglossa
Warren
and
Scoparia
Haworth
are distinguished from each other on the basis of genitalia morphology:
Scoparia
features a long, distally pointed uncus, a free distal extension of the valva sacculus, and a phallus with cornuti, in the female genitalia, the signum is absent.
Eudonia
, on the other hand, has dorsally rounded or bilobed uncus, a sacculus without a free distal extension, no cornuti in the phallus, and a well sclerotised, more or less rounded signum in the female genitalia. In contrast to these two genera,
Micraglossa
lacks the appendix bursae in the female genitalia (
Nuss 1998
,
2005b
,
Munroe & Solis 1999
,
Holloway
et al.
2001
).
Larval characters:
very little is known about the larvae of
Scopariinae
.
Hasenfuss (1960)
briefly treats some larvae of European
Scoparia
and
Eudonia
, and
Heckford & Sterling (2005)
describe the caterpillar of
Scoparia basistrigalis
Knaggs.
Food plants:
larvae mostly live in silken tunnels lined with droppings at the base of lichens, mosses, lycopods, grasses and dicotyledons. The Hawaiian
Eudonia lycopodiae
(Swezey)
is a stem borer in the lycopod
Lycopodium cernuum
(
Nuss 2005b
)
. Moss-feeding habits suggest moss as the ancestral host plant of the
Scopariinae (
Léger
et al
. 2019
)
.