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Geometer moth

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Geometridae
Idaea deversaria (Sterrhinae: Sterrhini)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Hexapoda
Class:
Insecta
Subclass:
Pterygota
Infraclass:
Neoptera
Superorder:
Endopterygota
Order:
Lepidoptera
Superfamily:
Geometroidea
(unranked):
Macrolepidoptera
Family:
Geometridae

Leach, 1815
Type species
Geometra papilionaria
Linnaeus, 1758
Subfamilies

Alsophilinae (disputed)
Archiearinae
Desmobathrinae (disputed)
Ennominae
Geometrinae
Larentiinae (but see text)
Oenochrominae
Orthostixinae
Sterrhinae

Diversity
About 2,000 genera
over 26,000 species
Chiasma species from Ennominae
Chlenias sp.
Scopula sp.

The geometer moths or Geometridae are a family of the order Lepidoptera. A very large family, it has around 26,000 species of moths described (over 300 of which occur in the British Isles, and over 1,200 species indigenous to North America). A well-known member is the Peppered Moth, Biston betularia, which has been subject of numerous studies in population genetics. Several other geometer moths are rather notorious pests.

Adults

Many Geometrids have slender abdomens and broad wings which are usually held flat with the hindwings visible. As such they appear rather butterfly-like but in most respects they are typical moths: the majority fly at night, they possess a frenulum to link the wings and the antennae of the males are often feathered. They tend to blend in to the background, often with intricate, wavy patterns on their wings. In some species, females have reduced wings (e.g. winter moth and fall cankerworm).

Most are of moderate size, about 3 cm in wingspan, but a range of sizes occur from 3/8 in. to 2 in. (9.5-51 mm). They have distinctive paired tympanal organs at the base of the abdomen (lacking in flightless females).

Caterpillars

Caterpillar locomotion

The name "Geometridae" ultimately derives from Latin geometra from Greek γεωμέτρης ("geometer, earth-measurer"). This refers to the means of locomotion of the larvae or caterpillars, which lack the prolegs of other Lepidopteran caterpillars in the middle portion of the body, with only two or three pairs at each end. Equipped with appendages at both ends of the body, a caterpillar will clasp with its front legs and draw up the hind end, then clasp with the hind end (prolegs) and reach out for a new front attachment - creating the impression that it is measuring its journey. The caterpillars are accordingly called loopers, spanworms, or inchworms after their characteristic looping gait. The cabbage looper is not an inchworm, but a caterpillar of a different family. They are about about 2.5 cm or 1 inch in length. They tend to be green, grey, or brownish and hide from predators by fading into the background or resembling twigs. Many inchworms, when disturbed, stand erect and motionless on the prolegs, increasing the resemblance. Some have humps or filaments (see Filament-bearer image). They are seldom hairy or gregarious and are generally smooth. Typically they eat leaves. However, some eat lichen, flowers or pollen. Some, such as the Hawaiian species of the genus Eupithecia, are even carnivorous. Certain destructive inchworms are called cankerworms.

Systematics

The placement of the example species follows a 1990 systematic; it may be outdated. Families are tentatively sorted in a phylogenetic sequence, from the most basal to the most advanced. Traditionally the Archiearinae were held to be the most ancient of the geometer moth lineages, as their caterpillars have well-developed prolegs. However, it nowadays seems that the Larentiinae are actually older, as indicated by their numerous plesiomorphies and DNA sequence data. They are either an extremely basal lineage of the Geometridae – together with the Sterrhinae –, or might even be considered a separate family of Geometroidea. As regards the Archiearinae, some species that were traditionally placed therein actually seem to belong to other subfamilies; altogether it seems that in a few cases, the prolegs which were originally lost in the ancestral geometer moths re-evolved as an atavism.[1]

Larentiinae - about 5,800 species, includes the pug moths, mostly temperate. Might be a distinct family.[1]

Sterrhinae - about 2,800 species, mostly tropical. Might belong to same family as Larentiinae.[2]

Desmobathrinae - pantropical

Geometrinae - emerald moths, about 2,300 named species, most tropical

Archiearinae - 12[verification needed] species; Holarctic, southern Andes and Tasmania, though the latter some seem to belong to the Ennominae[3]. Larvae have all the prolegs except most are reduced.

Oenochrominae - in some treatments used as a "wastebin taxon" for genera that are difficult to place in other groups.

Alsophilinae - a few genera, defoliators of trees. Might belong in the Ennominae, tribe Boarmiini[3].

Ennominae - about 9,700 species, including some defoliating pests; global distribution.

Geometridae genera incertae sedis include:

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Geometridae.
Wikispecies has information related to Geometridae.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Õunap et al. (2008), Young (2008)
  2. ^ Õunap et al. (2008)
  3. ^ a b Young (2008)

References

  • Õunap, E., Viidalepp, J. & Saarma, U. (2008): Systematic position of Lythriini revised: transferred from Larentiinae to Sterrhinae (Lepidoptera, Geometridae). Zool. Scripta 37(4): 405–413. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00327.x (HTML abstract)
  • Young, Catherine J. (2008): Characterisation of the Australian Nacophorini using adult morphology, and phylogeny of the Geometridae based on morphological characters. Zootaxa 1736: 1-141. PDF abstract and excerpt

Further reading

  • Hausmann, A. (2001): The geometrid moths of Europe. Apollo Books.
  • Minet, J. & Scoble, M.J. (1999): The Drepanoid / Geometroid Assemblage. In: Kristensen, N.P. (ed.): Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches / Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom (Vol. 4: Arthropoda: Insecta. Part 35: Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies vol. 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography): Chapter 17. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin & New York.
  • Scoble, M.J. (ed.) (1999): Geometrid Moths of the World: A Catalogue. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 0-643-06304-8
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