- Micronoctuidae
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Micronoctuidae Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Ditrysia (unranked): Macrolepidoptera Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: Micronoctuidae
Fibiger in Fibiger & Lafonteine, 2005Subfamilies - Belluliinae Fibiger, 2008
- Magninae Fibiger, 2008
- Micronoctuinae Fibiger, 2005
- Parachrostiinae Fibiger, 2008
- Pollexinae Fibiger, 2007
- Tactusinae Fibiger, 2010
- Tentaxinae Fibiger, 2011
Diversity About 400 species The Micronoctuidae are a family of moths that includes about 400 described species. The family was first described in 2005.
Micronoctua karsholti is the smallest of all species in the Noctuoidea superfamily.
Taxonomic History
Before the description of the family, about 20 species of Micronoctuidae were described in the families Arctiidae (now Arctiinae), Noctuidae, Nolidae (now Nolinae) and Pyralidae. The first species now referable to the family was named by Walker in 1863. Species of this family are rare in collections, possibly because most species are drably coloured (often a unicolorous brown, grey, or black) and are extremely small. Furthermore, lepidopterists specialising in Macrolepidoptera ignore these species, thinking they belong to the Microlepidoptera instead. While, Microlepidopterists collect them, but usually classify them with unknown miscellaneous Microlepidoptera.
Distribution
The Micronoctuidae are only known from the Old World, mainly in the tropics and subtropics, but also in the temperate zone of eastern Asia. They inhabit many different biotopes, including sand deserts, stone deserts, semi-deserts, grass steppes, bush steppes, steppes with bushes and trees, savanna, open dry forests, dense dry forests, moist always deciduous forests and rainforests. They are found from Sierra Leone in Africa to Vanuatu in the Pacific and from the Russian Far East to Cape Town in South Africa and northern New South Wales in Australia.
References
- Fibiger, M. 1997: Micronoctua karsholti gen. et sp. n.: an astonishing small noctuid moth (Noctuidae). Nota lepidopterologica, 20: 23-30.
- Fibiger, M. 2007: Revision of the Micronoctuidae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea). Part 1, Taxonomy of the Pollexinae. Zootaxa, 1567: 1-116. Abstract & excerpt
- Fibiger, M. 2008: Revision of the Micronoctuidae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea). Part 2, Taxonomy of the Belluliinae, Magninae and Parachrostiinae. Zootaxa, 1867: 1-136. Abstract & excerpt
- Fibiger, M. 2010: Revision of the Micronoctuidae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea) Part 3, Taxonomy of the Tactusinae. Zootaxa, 2583: 1–119. Preview
- Fibiger, M.; Kononenko, V.S. 2008: Revision of the Micronoctuidae species occurring in the Russian Far East and neighbouring countries with description of a new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea). Zootaxa, 1890: 50-58. Abstract & excerpt
- Fibiger, M.; Lafontaine, J.D. 2005: A review of the higher classification of the Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera) with special reference to the Holarctic fauna. Esperiana, 11: 7-92.
- Fibiger, M. 2011: Revision of the Micronoctuidae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea). Part 4, Taxonomy of the subfamilies Tentaxinae and Micronoctuinae. Preview
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