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Subfamily Gelechiinae

Unknown Moth - Coleotechnites Lecithoceridae? - Chionodes moth - Sinoe Fascista - Fascista cercerisella Filatima? Pennsylvania Moth - Sinoe chambersi Moth - Chionodes Symmetrischema
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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Gelechioidea (Twirler Moths and kin)
Family Gelechiidae (Twirler Moths)
Subfamily Gelechiinae
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Gelechiinae Stainton, 1854 (1)
Explanation of Names
Gelechiinae from the type genus Gelechia (Hübner), from Greek meaning "resting on the ground." (2)
Numbers
By far the largest subfamily of Gelechiidae in our area with 663 species in 57 genera (3)
Identification
"The Gelechiinae ... are characterized by one synapomorphy: tergum VIII and sternum VIII in the male have free ‘flaps’ that are formed of an outer sclerotized part belonging to tergum VIII and sternum VIII, and an inner unsclerotized membrane, which is formed by the intersegmental membrane between segment VIII and IX, so they are not united to a ring (Huemer & Sattler, 1995, N.P. Kristensen, personal communication). Tergum VIII is in many species in this clade tongue-shaped, and sternum VIII is usually broad, sometimes with paired anterior apophyses, namely rod-like lobes (Hodges, 1998; Huemer & Karsholt, 1999)" (4).
Remarks
"Tribal division of Gelechiinae by Karsholt (2011) is generally well supported. Anacampsini, Chelariini, Anomologini, Gnorimoschemini and Litini are all well supported as monophyletic groups, respectively, but Gelechiini appears paraphyletic because both Gnorimoschemini and Litini are nested within it. ... The current competing tribal classifications of Gelechiinae s.s. agree in separating the subfamily into three tribes: Litini (= Teleiodini), Gelechiini and Gnorimoschemini (e.g. Huemer & Karsholt, 1999, 2010; Ponomarenko, 2008a, 2009; Lee et al., 2009). However, this is unsupported by our results, as Gelechiinae (-ini) is paraphyletic with respect to Litini and Gnorimoschemini. But, as our data are insufficient in proposing a new and better classification, we suggest, for the time being, the continuing use of the established tribes. We further stress the need of a more detailed study with a considerably increased taxon sampling, to be able to suggest a satisfying tribal subdivision for Gelechiinae s.s." (4)
Works Cited
1.A catalogue of the family-group and genus-group names of the Gelechiidae, Holcopogonidae, Lecithoceridae and Symmocidae
Klaus Sattler. 1973. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 28(4): 153-182.
2.An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera, with hints on the derivation of the names.
Anonymous. 1858. The Entomological Societies of Oxford and Cambridge.
3.Annotated taxonomic checklist of the Lepidoptera of North America, North of Mexico
Pohl, G.R., Patterson, B., & Pelham, J.P. 2016. ResearchGate.net.
4.A molecular analysis of the Gelechiidae (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea) with an interpretative grouping of its taxa
Karsholt, O., M. Mutanen, S. Lee, & L. Kaila. 2013. Systematic Entomology. 38 (2):334–348.