Aenigmatineidae is a family of basal Lepidoptera, moths discovered on Kangaroo Island in South Australia by Dr Richard Glatz. The family is based on a single species discovered in 2015, Aenigmatinea glatzella, commonly known as the enigma moth.[1] The larvae feed on conifers by mining the stem of Callitris plants in the cypress family. The adult has highly reduced mouthparts but its position in the Glossata containing the more familiar moths-with-tongues is confirmed by morphological and DNA sequence similarity. The group is best treated as a sister of the family Neopseustidae.[2]
| Aenigmatineidae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Suborder: | Glossata |
| Family: | Aenigmatineidae Kristensen & Edwards, 2015 |
| Genus: | Aenigmatinea Kristensen & Edwards, 2015 |
| Species: | A. glatzella
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| Binomial name | |
| Aenigmatinea glatzella Kristensen & Edwards, 2015
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Phylogeny
editA phylogenetic analysis finds Aenigmatineidae as sister to family Neopseustidae in a clade with Acanthopteroctetidae. This clade is sister to the Heteroneura, which contains the large majority of moths and the butterflies.[2]
References
edit- ^ Maher, Louise (9 March 2015). "Enigma moth from Kangaroo Island helps scientists unravel evolutionary puzzle of tiny tongues". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
- ^ a b Kristensen, Niels P.; Hilton, Douglas J.; Kallies, Axel; Milla, Liz; Rota, Jadranka; Wahlberg, Niklas; Wilcox, Stephen A.; Glatz, Richard v.; Young, David A.; Cocking, Glenn; Edwards, Ted; Gibbs, George W.; Halsey, Mike (2015). "A new extant family of primitive moths from Kangaroo Island, Australia, and its significance for understanding early Lepidoptera evolution". Systematic Entomology. 40 (1): 5–16. doi:10.1111/syen.12115.
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