Batrachedrodes is a genus of moths of the Momphidae family.[1] All species of this genus are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.[2]

Batrachedrodes
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Momphidae
Genus: Batrachedrodes
Zimmerman, 1978

All six species were collected by Robert Cyril Layton Perkins and then described by Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham in 1907. He classified them in the genus Batrachedra, although before publication he questioned if these species were not so distinct that they were better segregated in an independent genus. The genus was eventually split from Batrachedra by Elwood Zimmerman in his 1978 treatment of the microlepidoptera of Hawaii.[3]

The species were first considered to be part of the family Batrachedridae, but were placed in the subfamily Momphinae of the family Gelechiidae with the rest of the Batrachedridae by Zimmerman in 1978.[3]

The caterpillars of all known species feed upon the sporangia found on the undersides of the fronds of various genera of ferns, including, but quite likely not limited to: Asplenium, Elaphoglossum, Aspidium and Dryopteris. They live protected under a silken webbing.[3]

Species

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References

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  1. ^ Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "​Batrachedrodes​". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. Retrieved 15 July 2018.  
  2. ^ Savela, Markku (14 March 2015). "Batrachedrodes". Lepidoptera and some other life forms. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Zimmerman, Elwood C. (1978). Insects of Hawaii (PDF). Vol. 9 Microlepidoptera. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii. pp. 1003–1028.
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