MICRONOCTUIDAE Fibiger, 2005

Fibiger, Michael, 2007, Revision of the Micronoctuidae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea). Part 1, Taxonomy of the Pollexinae, Zootaxa 1567 (1), pp. 1-116 : 6-7

FAMILY MICRONOCTUIDAE Fibiger, 2005

Micronoctuidae Fibiger, 2005 in Fibiger and Lafontaine 2005. A review of the higher classification of the Noctuoidea ( Lepidoptera ) with special reference to the Holarctic fauna. Esperiana 11: 33.

Type genus: Micronoctua Fibiger, 1997 .

The family is characterised by many autapomorphic character states (apo.). The descriptions of Fibiger (2005) and Lafontaine and Fibiger (2006) are summarised and expanded here.

Imago (external).

Head: short, bent downward.

Frons: smoothly rounded.

Clypeofrons: fully and smoothly scaled.

Proboscis: well developed.

Eye: relatively large, round.

Ocelli: present.

Labial palps: porrect to slightly upturned.

Colour of head, patagia, and all or part of base of costa: black to dark brown (apo.).

Size: extremely small (wingspan: 5.7– 15 mm, excluding fringe).

Forewing venation: intermediate between trifid and quadrifid position of Noctuoidae, i.e., vein M 2 in forewing two-thirds of distance down cell (apo.).

Hindwing venation: bifid (cubital vein two-branched) (apo.). Other noctuoids with cubital vein either trifid or quadrifid, except Lithosiina Billberg, 1820 (sensu Lafontaine and Fibiger 2006), which has a modified trifid hindwing (i.e., M3 and Cu stalked between cell and termen).

Resting position: flat, with ventral margins of forewings slightly overlapping (as in plate 8, figure 4, but not like plate 9, figure 8).

Reniform: pure yellow, whitish yellow, to grey, outlined in black to brown (apo.).

Orbicular and claviform stigmata: absent (apo.).

Hindwing: terminal margin medially invaginated.

Tibial spurs: present.

Tympanal sclerite: absent (apo.).

Abdomen: first segment with a long-scaled tuft.

Male genitalia.

Uncus: lost (also in some Nolinae and in subtribe Athetisina Fibiger and Lafontaine, 2005) (apo.).

Fultura superior: transformed into bizarre configurations in most of species, apparently as compensation for loss of uncus (apo.).

Cucullus: absent (apo.).

Ampulla: plate-like (apo.).

Pollex : often prominent; resembles a second lobe of valve (which it is not).

Juxta-anellus: usually heavily fused (apo.).

Phallus: heavily sclerotised throughout (apo.); natural position of phallus as in plate 14, figure 5, and plate 18, figure 2.

Female genitalia.

Posterior apophysis: stick-like.

Abdominal segments seven and eight: almost always fused.

Ostium: often dislocated anterior to middle of seventh segment or beyond, and frequently dislocated to left (ostium is morphologically part of segment eight, but in Micronoctuidae it is very often fused with seventh segment, which is slightly differently sclerotised (apo.).

Signum: single; cross shaped, someX slightly folded along cross-bar with anterior and posterior parts of cross expanded (apo.).

Larva:

Semi-loopers in all instars.

Abdomen: prolegs absent from segments three and four; segments three and four very long (apo.).

Setae: D1 absent on metathorax; L2 on meso- and metathorax greatly reduced (Matti Ahola, pers. comm.) (apo.).

Distribution. Mainly in the Old World tropics and subtropics, from Sierra Leone in Africa to Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean.