Phylogeny and composition of the Hieroxestinae (Lepidoptera: Tineidae)

Abstract

The tineid subfamily Hieroxestinae, comprising 275 valid species, is reviewed. The morphology of the group is examined and a fully resolved phytogeny presented for the six constituent genera. Eighteen generic synonyms are noted of which three are new; fourteen specific synonyms are noted, one of them new. Seventy- one new specific combinations are established. A comprehensive checklist of species is provided as an appendix. Three species are left unplaced in Oinophila sensu lato, and two species (one with two subspecies) are transferred to Oecophoridae (Stathmopodinae). The biology of the Hieroxestinae is briefly reviewed. Hieroxestinae larvae are predominantly detritophagous but several species feed facultatively on green plant material, and Opogona sacchari is a pest of seedlings and nursery stock in the U.S.A. and Mediterranean region. The group is predominantly tropical and is distributed throughout the world but is depauperate in the Americas. There has been considerable radiation of Opogona and Amphixystis on the islands of the Indian Ocean that lie within the Malagasy Subregion (Seychelles, Mauritius, Réunion, etc.) where there are fifty-three endemic species. A lesser radiation of Opogona (twenty species) has occurred on St Helena.