Thyrocopa

Taxobox
name = "Thyrocopa"

---

image_width = 300px
image_caption = Grasshopper Moth ("Thyrocopa apatela")
Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
familia =
subfamilia =
genus = "Thyrocopa"
genus_authority = Meyrick 1883
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
see text

"Thyrocopa" is a genus of moth endemic to Hawaii.cite journal |author=Medeiros, Matthew J. |year=2008 |title=A new species of flightless, jumping, alpine moth of the genus "Thyrocopa" from Hawaii (Lepidoptera: Xyloryctidae: Xyloryctinae) |journal=Zootaxa |volume=1830 |pages=57–62 |url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/zt01830p062.pdf] The taxon has approximately forty species, including some flightless species. [http://zipcodezoo.com/Key/Animalia/Thyrocopa_Genus.asp] BayScience Foundation, Inc.]

Adults

Although some "Agrotis" species occur at very high altitudes in Hawaii and female "Agrotis" from New Zealand are sometimes brachypterous, brachyptery in both genders of Lepidoptera species is rare and is usually limited to wind-battered habitats, often southern oceanic islands and sparsely vegetated areas where the moths locomote by jumping. "Thyrocopa" is the only genus of flightless alpine in the Hawaiian Islands.

Having studied males and females of two different species ("Thyrocopa apatela" and "Thyrocopa kikaelekea"), researchers at University of California, Berkeley concluded that they had not evolved from a flightless common ancestor nor had they dispersed to new habitats after becoming flightless. Rather, each was descended from a flying ancestor but had separately undergone wing reduction and evolved flightlessness in a case of parallel evolution occuring in less than 1 million years. The adaptation is thought to be a response to specific environmental pressures such as scattered food resources, lack of predation, high winds, and low temperatures that elicit loss of flight. Their hypothesis is supported by both molecular and morphological evidence. [ [http://esa.confex.com/esa/2007/techprogram/paper_30522.htm] Entomological Society of America]

Larvae

An entomologist at the University of Bristol described most larvae of this genus as generalist feeders that eat decaying leaf tissue and generally hide in "webby frass" leaf structures they make themselves. The larva of another species (which was referred to by the researcher as "Thyrocopa sp". 3" in lieu of possibly making a taxonomical error) has a slightly different appearance from the generalist species and seems to be a "specialist borer" in "Broussaisia arguta", a perennial native-Hawaiian relative of the Hydrangea.cite web |url=http://www.umwestern.edu/shares/envirosci_share/laurie/lepidoptera/thyrocopa.htm |title="Thyrocopa" spp. (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) |author=Henneman, Laurie |work=Moths of the Alaka`i Swamp |publisher=University of Western Montana] At 20°C in the laboratory, specimens stayed larvae for 2-20 weeks and remained in pupa form for 2-8, a range in development time indicative of a number of species being kept together in the study.

The large have been collected on a wide variety of host plants (most of them endemic to Hawaii) including "Alyxia oliviformis", "Astelia argyrocoma", "Athyrium microphyllum", "Carex spp.", "Cheirodendron platyphyllum", "Coprosma elliptica", "Coprosma kauensis", "Dianella sandwicianum", "Dicranopteris linearis", "Dryopteris spp.", "Dubautia raillardioides", "Elaphoglossum" spp., "Hedyotis terminalis", "Melicope clusiifolia", "Metrosideros polymorpha", "Myrsine punctata", "Psychotria spp.", "Rubus argutus", "Smilax melastomifolia", "Styphelia tameiameiae", and "Vaccinium calycinum".

pecies

The genus contains the following species:columns-list|2
*"T. abusa"
*"T. acetosa"
*"T. adumbrata"
*"T. albonubila"
*"T. alterna"
*"T. apatela" (common names: Grasshopper Moth, and Haleakala flightless moth [ [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiinsects/images/thumbnails/html/thyrocopa_apatela.htm] Thyrocopa apatela, Haleakala flightless moth,(Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae)] )
*"T. argentea"
*"T. brevipalpis"
*"T. cinerella"
*"T. criminosa"
*"T. decipiens"
*"T. depressariella"
*"T. epicapna"
*"T. fraudulentella"
*"T. geminipuncta"
*"T. gigas"
*"T. immutata"
*"T. indecora"
*"T. inermis"
*"T. ingeminata"
*"T. kikaelekea", a recently described species
*"T. lactea"
*"T. leonina"
*"T. librodes"
*"T. mediomaculata"
*"T. megas"
*"T. minor"
*"T. nubifer"
*"T. pallida"
*"T. peleana"
*"T. phycidiformis"
*"T. pulverulenta"
*"T. sapindiela" (common name: Oahu Aulu Thyrocopa Moth [ [http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/speciesIndex/Genus_Thyrocopa_106339_1.htm] NatureServe Explorer Species Index] [ [http://www.hbmp.hawaii.edu/printpage.asp?spp=IILEG6Z020] The Hawai‘i Biodiversity & Mapping Program] )
*"T. seminatella"
*"T. spilobathra"
*"T. subahenea"
*"T. sucosa"
*"T. tessellatella"
*"T. usitata"
*"T. viduella"

Photo links

* [http://www.umwestern.edu/shares/envirosci_share/laurie/lepidoptera/thyrocopa.htm] University of Bristol
* [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiinsects/images/thumbnails/html/thyrocopa_sp.htm] Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk: Insects of Hawaii
* [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiinsects/images/thumbnails/html/thyrocopa_apatela.htm] Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk: Insects of Hawaii
* [http://www.morphbank.net/Browse/ByImage/?tsn=999005049] MorphBank Images

References