Yponomeutoidea Explained

Yponomeutoidea is a superfamily of ermine moths and relatives. There are about 1,800 species of Yponomeutoids worldwide, most of them known to come from temperate regions.^[1] This superfamily is one of the earliest groups to evolve external feeding and to colonize herbs in addition to shrubs and trees.

Families

The family composition of Yponomeutoidea has varied over time, with a 2013 study assigning eleven families:^[2]

• Argyresthiidae
• Attevidae
• Bedelliidae
• Glyphipterigidae
• Heliodinidae
• Lyonetiidae
• Plutellidae
• Praydidae
• Scythropiidae
• Yponomeutidae
• Ypsolophidae

Etymology

The word Yponomeutoidea comes from the Ancient Greek Greek, Modern (1453-);: [[wikt:ὑπό|ὑπό]] (Greek, Modern (1453-);: ypo) meaning under and Greek, Modern (1453-);: [[wikt:νομός|νομός]] (Greek, Modern (1453-);: nomós) meaning food or dwelling, thus "feeding secretly, or burrow".^[3]

References

1. Sohn . Jae-Cheon . 2013 . Molecular phylogenetics, biodiversity and life history evolution of Yponomeutoidea (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia), with a catalog and an overview of the lepidopteran fossils . en . PhD . University of Maryland . 1903/14442.
2. Sohn . Jae-Cheon (2013, January 31) . Regier . Jerome C. . Mitter . Charles . Davis . Donald . Landry . Jean-Francois . Zwick . Andreas . Cummings . Michael P. . A Molecular Phylogeny for Yponomeutoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Ditrysia) and Its Implications for Classification, Biogeography and the Evolution of Host Plant Use . PLOS ONE . 2013 . 8 . 1 . e55066 . Plos . 10.1371/journal.pone.0055066 . 23383061 . 3561450 . 2013PLoSO...855066S . free .
3. Westwood. J. O.. A series of Articles on the Insects most Injurious to Cultivators -- No. 8. The small Ermine Moth. The Gardener's Magazine and Register of Rural and Domestic Improvement. October 1837. 13. 434. 6 August 2011. John Claudius. Loudon.

Sources

• Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders, edited by Christopher O'Toole,, 2002
• van Nieukirken et al., 2011. Order Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758. In:Zhang, Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal Biodiversity: an outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness. Zootaxa 3148: 212-221.

External links

• leptree