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Gelechiidae

{{Short description|Family of moths}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Dichomeris ligulella.jpg

| image_caption = Dichomeris ligulella

| taxon = Gelechiidae

| authority = Stainton, 1854

| subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies

| subdivision = See text

| synonyms =

Brachmiinae

Deoclonidae

Gelechiadae (lapsus)

Physoptilinae

(but see text)

}}

File:Chrysoesthia sexguttella 6996.8.10.09.3mm.w.wiki.jpg in a mine in Chenopodium album]]

File:Indented Dichomeris Moth 6134.7.18-21.09w.wiki.jpg]]

The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy has been subject to considerable dispute. These are generally very small moths with narrow, fringed wings. The larvae of most species feed internally on various parts of their host plants, sometimes causing galls. Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga) is a host plant common to many species of the family, particularly of the genus Chionodes, which as a result is more diverse in North America than usual for Gelechioidea.{{cite book |author=Donald J. Borror, Charles A. Triplehorn & Norman F. Johnson |title= An Introduction to the Study of Insects |edition=6th |year=1989 |publisher=Saunders College |location=Fort Worth, Texas |isbn=0-03-025397-7 |page=800}}

By the late 20th century, over 900The Natural History Museum of London website offers details on 911 genera belonging to the family Gelechiidae. The list of these is accessible [http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/butmoth/search/GenusList3.dsml?searchPageURL=index.dsml&SUPERFAMIL=&FAMILYqtype=equals&FAMILY=GELECHIIDAE&SUBFAMILYqtype=equals&SUBFAMILY=&TRIBEqtype=equals&TRIBE=&SUBTRIBEqtype=equals&SUBTRIBE=&GENUSqtype=equals&GENUS=&AUTHORqtype=equals&AUTHOR=&YEARqtype=equals&YEAR=&sort=GENUS here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517140134/https://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/buttmoth |date=2024-05-17 }} genera with altogether more than 4,500 species were placed here, with about 650 genera known from North America alone. While these figures are certainly outdated, due to the many revisions to superfamily Gelechioidea and new descriptions of twirler moths, they still serve to show the enormous biodiversity contained in this important family.

Being abundant, fecund plant-eaters, many species are agricultural pests, including:

The voracious habits of their larvae make twirler moths suitable for biological control of invasive plants. The spotted knapweed seedhead moth (Metzneria paucipunctella), for example, is used to control spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa) in North America.

Taxonomy and systematics

Compared to the other massively diverse Gelechioidea families – Coleophoridae (case-bearers) and Oecophoridae (concealer moths) – the systematics of the Gelechiidae are far less contentious. The "Deoclonidae", sometimes treated as a full gelechioid family, seem to be nothing other than a specialized offshoot from within the Gelechiidae, and are here included in the present family; some authors differ, however, and ally at least some of these genera with the Autostichinae and/or Symmocidae. On the other hand, the Schistonoeidae (scavenger moths) are preliminarily considered a distinct family here.{{cite book |author=R. W. Hodges |year=1999 |chapter=The Gelechioidea |editor=N. P. Kristensen |series=Handbuch der Zoologie |title=IV – Arthropoda: Insecta. Part 35: Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies 1 |pages=131–158 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |location=Berlin & New York |isbn=3-11-015704-7}}{{cite book |editor=Christopher O'Toole |year=2002 |title=Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders |isbn=1-55297-612-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/fireflyencyclope0000unse_k0d2 }}{{cite web |author=Australian Biological Resources Study |author-link=Australian Biological Resources Study |work=Australian Faunal Directory |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/GELECHIIDAE |title=Gelechiidae |date=October 9, 2008 |access-date=April 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110323001430/http://environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/GELECHIIDAE |archive-date=March 23, 2011 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |work=Fauna Europaea |url=http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=3177 |title=Gelechiidae |date=December 22, 2009 |access-date=April 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622082716/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=3177 |archive-date=June 22, 2011 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |publisher=Tree of Life Web Project |url=http://tolweb.org/Gelechiidae/12116 |title=Gelechiidae |date=May 1, 2008 |access-date=April 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091114222400/http://tolweb.org/Gelechiidae/12116 |archive-date=November 14, 2009 |url-status=live }}

Of the subfamilies traditionally accepted for the Gelechiidae, only three were maintained for some time pending further information; at least one other, the Physoptilinae, were suggested to also be valid. But numerous genera of twirler moths – including most of the former "Deoclonidae" and also the proposed Physoptilinae – were of undetermined affiliation at that moment. Later studies, including a 2013 molecular analysis of the Gelechiidae, list the following subfamilies:{{cite journal|last1=Karsholt|first1=Ole|last2=Mutanen|first2=Marko|last3=Lee|first3=Sangmi|last4=Kaila|first4=Lauri|title=A molecular analysis of the Gelechiidae (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea) with an interpretative grouping of its taxa|journal=Systematic Entomology|date=April 2013|volume=38|issue=2|pages=334–348|doi=10.1111/syen.12006|bibcode=2013SysEn..38..334K |s2cid=222201023 |url=http://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/49376087/Molecular_analysis_Gelechiidae_2013.pdf|access-date=28 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202093900/http://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/49376087/Molecular_analysis_Gelechiidae_2013.pdf|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=dead}}

Subfamily Anacampsinae Bruand, 1850

Subfamily Anomologinae Meyrick, 1926

Subfamily Apatetrinae Meyrick, 1947

Subfamily Dichomeridinae Hampson, 1918 (formerly including Chelariinae, which is now placed in Anacampsinae)

Subfamily Gelechiinae Stainton, 1854

Subfamily Physoptilinae Meyrick, 1914

Subfamily Thiotrichinae Karsholt, Mutanen, Lee & Kaila, 2013

Genera incertae sedis

References

{{Reflist|32em}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{Wikispecies-inline}}
  • {{cite web|author=C. Michael Hogan |url=http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=44736 |title=Douglas-fir: Pseudotsuga menziesii |date=September 17, 2008 |access-date=April 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604021155/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=44736 |archive-date=June 4, 2009 }}
  • [http://www.mississippientomologicalmuseum.org.msstate.edu/Researchtaxapages/Lepidoptera/Gelechiidaehome.html Gelechiidae]
  • [http://mississippientomologicalmuseum.org.msstate.edu/Researchtaxapages/Lepidoptera/GelechioideaFramework.htm Gelechioidea Global Framework]
  • [http://mississippientomologicalmuseum.org.msstate.edu/Researchtaxapages/Lepidoptera/Gelechiidaepages/Genera.World.htm Gelechiidae Genera of the World] - list of preliminary subfamily/tribe assignments
  • [http://www.mapress.com./zootaxa/2009/f/z02231p039f.pdf mapress]
  • [https://bugguide.net/node/view/7747 Bugguide.net. Family Gelechiidae - Twirler Moths]

{{Lepidoptera}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q778491}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Moth families