Micropterix is a genus of small primitive metallic moths, in the family Micropterigidae within the insect order Lepidoptera. The name was raised by the German entomologist, Jacob Hübner in 1825 and comes from the Greek for mikros, little and pterux, a wing.[1] The moths are distributed across Europe, south to North Africa and east as far as Japan.
The moths are small, with the forewing ranging in size from 2.5 mm to 5.5 mm, and at rest they are held at a steep angle, tent-like over the body. Members of the family to which this genus belongs are unique among the Lepidoptera in having chewing mouthparts rather than a proboscis. They are often seen feeding, often in large aggregations, on the pollen of the flowers of many herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees.[2] [3] Eggs are translucent white and laid amongst vegetation on the surface of the soil. The life history of the early stages is more or less unknown but larva have been found in the young shoots of plants, or obtained by the funnel extraction of woodland turf samples, from a depth of up to 10 cm. It appears there are only three instars and they probably feed on minute particles of leaf-litter or possibly fungal hyphae.[4] For many species the pupa is unknown, but of those found it is within a tough silken cocoon.
Edward Meyrick describes the moth as:[5]
Mandibles developed. No tongue. Labial palpi obsolete. Posterior tibiae with spurs placed in groups of bristles. Forewings: vein 7 to costa, vein 11 connected by bar with vein 12, 12 giving rise to an additional vein (13) about middle. Hindwings as forewings, but vein 13 usually absent.
Micropterix contains the following species: