An annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Alberta, Canada
Author
Pohl, Greg
Northern Forestry Centre, Natural Resources Canada, Edmonton ,, Canada
Author
Anweiler, Gary
University of Alberta Strickland Entomology Museum ,, Canada
Author
Schmidt, Christian
Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, Canada
Author
Kondla, Norbert
Calgary ,, Canada
text
ZooKeys
2010
2010-03-05
38
38
1
549
journal article
10.3897/zookeys.38.383
aa97d560-1969-4b79-93bb-2614b7835c0e
1313–2970
576629
29.
Coleophoridae
– coleophorid moths
Minute to small (
8–15 mm
wingspan), narrow-winged moths. Most adults have lightcolored or metallic green wings (
Coleophorinae
), black and white patterned wings (
Momphinae
), or gray and black wings (
Blastobasinae
). Th ey are similar superficially to the
Gracillariidae
and
Batrachedridae
. Larvae have diverse feedings habits; many are casebearers and feed on leaves, flowers, and seeds (
Coleophorinae
); others feed on various plant parts or are scavengers. A few are opportunistic predators.
The family
Coleophoridae
includes several lineages that were recently considered to be separate families. Th e subfamily
Coleophorinae
comprises over 1000 described species, primarily in the genus
Coleophora
. Th e subfamily
Momphinae
comprises 60 described species, primarily in the genus
Mompha
. Th e subfamily
Blastobasinae
comprises 300 described species. All three of these subfamilies are particularly diverse in the Nearctic region, and all are in need of revision. Many new species remain to be described, particularly in the subfamily
Coleophorinae
. Hodges (1999a) reported that only 20%–25% of Nearctic species had been described. A fourth subfamily, the
Pterolonchinae
, comprises eight species, all from the Old World; one has been introduced to North America as a biological control agent of knapweed (
Centaurea
spp.; Compositae). Two hundred and sixty-seven species of
Coleophoridae
are known in North America; 39 species are reported in AB. Few AB specimens have been examined in detail by experts, so the fauna is poorly known. Few recent taxonomic works exist for the
Coleophoridae
.
Landry and Wright (1993)
revised the metallic green
Coleophora
;
McDunnough (1958)
and J.-F.
Landry (1998a)
provided many excellent illustrations of several
Coleophora
species.
Adamski and Brown (1989)
provided a higher-level systematic treatment of the
Blastobasinae
, and
Adamski and Hodges (1996)
published a nomenclature review and a checklist for the North American
Blastobasinae
.