Zygaenidae

Family of moths

Zygaenidae

Temporal range: Rupelian–Present

PreꞒ

Cyclosia papilionaris, female
Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Arthropoda
Class:  | Insecta
Order:  | Lepidoptera
Superfamily:  | Zygaenoidea
Family:  | Zygaenidae
Latreille, 1809
Subfamilies

* Callizygaeninae
* Chalcosiinae
* Procridinae
* Zygaeninae

Larva showing warning colours, flattening Zygaena filipendulae

The Zygaenidae moths are a family of Lepidoptera. The majority of zygaenids are tropical, but they are nevertheless quite well represented in temperate regions. Some of the 1000 or so species are commonly known as burnet or forester moths, often qualified by the number of spots, although other families also have 'foresters'. They are also sometimes called smoky moths.

All 43 species of Australian zygaenids are commonly known as foresters and belong to the tribe Artonini. The only nonendemic species in Australia is Palmartona catoxantha, a Southeast Asian pest species which is believed to be already present in Australia or likely to arrive soon.[1]

## Description

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### Larvae

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Larvae are stout and may be flattened. A fleshy extension of the thorax covers the head. Most feed on herbaceous plants, but some are tree feeders. Larvae in two subfamilies, Chalcosiinae and Zygaeninae, have cavities in which they store the cyanide, and can excrete it as defensive droplets.[2]

### Aposematism in adults

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Zygaenid moths are typically day flying with a slow, fluttering flight, and with rather clubbed antennae. They generally have a metallic sheen and often prominent spots of red or yellow. The bright colours are a warning to predators that the moths are distasteful - they contain hydrogen cyanide (HCN) throughout all stages of their life cycle. Unlike most insects with such toxins, they obtain glucosides from the plants they utilize so that HCN can be used as a defence.[3] However, they are capable of making HCN themselves, and when in an environment poor in cyanide-producing plants, synthesize it themselves.[4] They form mimicry complexes based on these toxins.[5]

However, while the overall picture is of genuine aposematism – the insects are both conspicuously coloured and toxic, containing cyanogenic glucosides – a study by Emmanuelle Briolat and colleagues including Martin Stevens found no evidence of a quantitative relationship between the visual signals of different species of Zygaenidae and their toxicity.[6]

## Evolution

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The fossil species Neurosymploca? oligocenica, belonging to the subfamily Zygaeninae, is known from Lower Stampian (Early Oligocene) deposits in Céreste, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France.[7] Lepidopterans with preserved structural coloration from the Eocene (~47 Ma) shales of the Messel Pit, Germany, are suggested to be zygaenids, and more specifically procridines due to wing venation patterns.[8]

## Economic importance

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The grapeleaf skeletonizer can be a problem in vineyards, feeding on foliage and can also be found feeding on Virginia creeper.

## Selected taxa

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Satin-green forester (Pollanisus viridipulverulenta) found in most of Australia (including temperate Tasmania)

Genera incertae sedis include:

* Acoloithus
* Harrisina
* Pyromorpha
* Reissita
* Seryda
* Tetraclonia
* Triprocris

Pest species include:

* Almond-tree leaf skeletonizer moth (Aglaope infausta)
* Vine bud moth (Theresimima ampellophaga)
* Grapeleaf skeletonizer (Harrisina americana)

South European species:

* Zygaena fausta

UK species:

* Scarce forester (Jordanita globulariae)
* Cistus forester (Adscita geryon)
* Green forester (Adscita statices)
* Scotch burnet (Zygaena exulans)
* Slender Scotch burnet (Zygaena loti)
* New Forest burnet (Zygaena viciae)
* Six-spot burnet (Zygaena filipendulae)
* Five-spot burnet (Zygaena trifolii)
* Narrow-bordered five-spot burnet (Zygaena lonicerae)
* Transparent burnet (Zygaena purpuralis)

African species:

* Fire grid burnet (Arniocera erythopyga)

Extinct species:

* Neurosymploca? oligocenica Fernández-Rubio & Nel, 2000 (Lower Stampian, Céreste, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France)

## See also

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* List of zygaenid genera

## References

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1. ^ Tarmann, G.M. "Zygaenid moths of Australia. A revision of the Australian Zygaenidae".
2. ^ Niehuis, O., Yen, S.H., Naumann, C.M. & Misof, B. (2006). "Higher phylogeny of zygaenid moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera) inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data and the evolution of larval cuticular cavities for chemical defence." Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39(3): 812-829.
3. ^ The Lepidoptera: Form, function and diversity. Oxford Univ. Press.
4. ^ "Plants And Predators Pick Same Poison - Science News". www.sciencenews.org. Archived from the original on 2011-04-15.
5. ^ Naumann, C.M., Tarmann, G.M. & Tremewan, W.G. (1999). The Western Palaearctic Zygaenidae. Apollo Books.
6. ^ Briolat, Emmanuelle S.; Zagrobelny, Mika; Olsen, Carl E.; Blount, Jonathan D.; Stevens, Martin (2 Nov 2018). "No evidence of quantitative signal honesty across species of aposematic burnet moths (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae)". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 32 (1). Wiley: 31–48\. doi:10.1111/jeb.13389. ISSN 1010-061X. PMC 6378400. PMID 30317689.
7. ^ Fernández-Rubio, F.; Nel, A. (2000). "Neurosymploca? oligocenica a new fossil species of Lepidoptera Zygaenoidea of the Oligocene of Céreste (Lubéron, France)" (PDF). Boletín de la S.E.A. 27: 7–16.
8. ^ McNamara, Maria E.; Briggs, Derek E. G.; Orr, Patrick J.; Wedmann, Sonja; Noh, Heeso; Cao, Hui (2011-11-15). Benton, Michael J. (ed.). "Fossilized Biophotonic Nanostructures Reveal the Original Colors of 47-Million-Year-Old Moths". PLOS Biology. 9 (11): e1001200. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001200. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 3217029. PMID 22110404.

## External links

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Wikispecies has information related to Zygaenidae.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zygaenidae.

* List of Zygaenidae Types, p. 8-11 (Museum Witt München).
* Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa - Zygaenidae \- many pictures of species
* "Family Zygaenidae". Insecta.pro. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
* Science News: Zygaenidae "make cyanide using the exact same cellular machinery as their host plants"
* Images of Zygaenidae species in New Zealand

* v
* t
* e

Extant Lepidoptera families

* Kingdom: Animalia
* Phylum: Arthropoda
* Class: Insecta
* Subclass: Pterygota
* Infraclass: Neoptera
* Superorder: Holometabola

Suborder Zeugloptera

| Micropterigoidea|

Micropterigidae (mandibulate archaic moths)

|

Suborder Aglossata

| Agathiphagoidea|

Agathiphagidae (kauri moths)

|

Suborder Heterobathmiina

| Heterobathmioidea|

Heterobathmiidae

|

Suborder Glossata

| Dacnonypha|

| Eriocranioidea|

* Eriocraniidae

|

Acanthoctesia|

| Acanthopteroctetoidea|

* Acanthopteroctetidae (archaic sun moths)

|

Lophocoronina|

| Lophocoronoidea|

Lophocoronidae

|

Neopseustina|

| Neopseustoidea|

* Aenigmatineidae
* Neopseustidae (archaic bell moths)

|

Exoporia|

| Hepialoidea|

* Anomosetidae
* Hepialidae (swift moths, ghost moths)
* Neotheoridae (Amazonian primitive ghost moths)
* Palaeosetidae (miniature ghost moths)
* Prototheoridae (African primitive ghost moths)

|

Mnesarchaeoidea|

* Mnesarchaeidae (New Zealand primitive moths)

| M

| Adeloidea|

Adelidae (fairy longhorn moths)
Cecidosidae
Heliozelidae
Incurvariidae
Prodoxidae (yucca moths)

|

Andesianoidea|

* Andesianidae (Andean endemic moths)

Nepticuloidea|

Nepticulidae (pigmy, or midget moths)
Opostegidae (white eyecap moths)

Palaephatoidea|

Palaephatidae (Gondwanaland moths)

Tischerioidea|

Tischeriidae (trumpet leaf miner moths)

| Simaethistoidea|

Simaethistidae

|

Tineoidea|

Acrolophidae (burrowing webworm moths)
Arrhenophanidae
Eriocottidae (Old World spiny-winged moths)
Psychidae (bagworm moths)
Tineidae (fungus moths)

Gracillarioidea|

Bucculatricidae (ribbed cocoon makers)
Douglasiidae (Douglas moths)
Gracillariidae
Roeslerstammiidae

Yponomeutoidea|

Acrolepiidae (false diamondback moths)
Bedelliidae
Glyphipterigidae (sedge moths)
Heliodinidae
Lyonetiidae
Plutellidae
Yponomeutidae (ermine moths)
Ypsolophidae

Gelechioidea|

Autostichidae
Batrachedridae
Blastobasidae
Coleophoridae (case-bearers, case moths)
Cosmopterigidae (cosmet moths)
Elachistidae (grass-miner moths)
Gelechiidae (twirler moths)
Lecithoceridae (long-horned moths)
Lypusidae
Metachandidae
Momphidae (mompha moths)
Oecophoridae (concealer moths)
Pterolonchidae
Scythrididae (flower moths)
Xyloryctidae (timber moths)

Galacticoidea|

Galacticidae

Zygaenoidea|

Heterogynidae
Zygaenidae (burnet, forester, or smoky moths)
Himantopteridae
Lacturidae
Somabrachyidae
Megalopygidae (flannel moths)
Aididae
Anomoeotidae
Cyclotornidae
Epipyropidae (planthopper parasite moths)
Dalceridae (slug caterpillars)
Limacodidae (slug, or cup moths)

Cossoidea|

Cossidae (carpenter millers, or goat moths)
Dudgeoneidae (dudgeon carpenter moths)

Sesioidea|

Brachodidae (little bear moths)
Castniidae (castniid moths: giant butterfly-moths, sun moths)
Sesiidae (clearwing moths)

Choreutoidea|

Choreutidae (metalmark moths)

Tortricoidea|

Tortricidae (tortrix moths)

Urodoidea|

Urodidae (false burnet moths)

Schreckensteinioidea|

Schreckensteiniidae (bristle-legged moths)

Epermenioidea|

Epermeniidae (fringe-tufted moths)

Alucitoidea|

Alucitidae (many-plumed moths)
Tineodidae (false plume moths)

Pterophoroidea|

Pterophoridae (plume moths)

Whalleyanoidea|

Whalleyanidae

Immoidea|

Immidae

Copromorphoidea|

Copromorphidae (tropical fruitworm moths)
Carposinidae (fruitworm moths)

Thyridoidea|

Thyrididae (picture-winged leaf moths)

Calliduloidea|

Callidulidae (Old World butterfly-moths)

Papilionoidea
(butterflies)|

Papilionidae (swallowtail butterflies)
Hedylidae (American moth-butterflies)
Hesperiidae (skippers)
Pieridae (whites, yellows, orangetips, sulphurs)
Riodinidae (metalmarks)
Lycaenidae (gossamer-winged butterflies: blues, coppers and relatives)
Nymphalidae (brush-footed, or four-footed butterflies)

Hyblaeoidea|

Hyblaeidae (teak moths)

Pyraloidea|

Pyralidae (snout moths)
Crambidae (grass moth)

Mimallonoidea|

Mimallonidae (sack bearer moths)

Lasiocampoidea|

Lasiocampidae (eggars, snout moths, or lappet moths)

Bombycoidea|

Anthelidae (Australian lappet moth)
Apatelodidae (American silkworm moths)
Bombycidae (silk moths)
Brahmaeidae (Brahmin moths)
Carthaeidae (Dryandra moth)
Endromidae (Kentish glory and relatives)
Eupterotidae
Phiditiidae
Saturniidae (saturniids)
Sphingidae (hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms)

Noctuoidea|

Erebidae (underwing, tiger, tussock, litter, snout, owlet moths)
Euteliidae
Noctuidae (daggers, sallows, owlet moths, quakers, cutworms, darts)
Nolidae (tuft moths)
Notodontidae (prominents, kittens)
Oenosandridae

Drepanoidea|

Drepanidae (hook-tips)
Cimeliidae (gold moths)
Doidae

Geometroidea|

Sematuridae
Pseudobistonidae
Epicopeiidae (oriental swallowtail moths)
Uraniidae
Geometridae (geometer moths)

Superfamily unassigned|

Millieriidae

Note: division Monotrysia is not a clade.

* Taxonomy of the Lepidoptera
* Lists by region

Taxon identifiers

Zygaenidae|

* Wikidata: Q156847
* Wikispecies: Zygaenidae
* AFD: Zygaenidae
* BAMONA: Zygaenidae
* BioLib: 17340
* BOLD: 487
* BugGuide: 175
* CoL: CPP74
* EoL: 922
* EPPO: 1ZYGAF
* Fauna Europaea: 3925
* Fauna Europaea (new): 4987411f-67a5-4a21-ae63-9cc47812c607
* GBIF: 8875
* iNaturalist: 52028
* IRMNG: 103946
* ITIS: 693983
* NBN: NBNSYS0000161287
* NCBI: 115354
* NZOR: 371d0543-049d-4621-9663-5748762a1988
* Open Tree of Life: 332969
* Paleobiology Database: 134815

Authority control databases: National |

* Germany
* Czech Republic
* Israel

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