Callidulidae

Callidulidae, the only known family of the superfamily Calliduloidea, is the family of Old World butterfly-moths, containing eight genera. They have a peculiar distribution, restricted to the Old World tropics of South East Asia to Australasia and Madagascar. The three subfamilies exhibit both day- and night-flying behaviour.

Callidulidae
A callidulid moth Tetragonus catamitus laying eggs on a fern in the Western Ghats.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Clade: Eulepidoptera
Clade: Ditrysia
Clade: Apoditrysia
(unranked): Obtectomera
Superfamily: Calliduloidea
Family: Callidulidae
Moore, 1877
Subfamilies and genera

Pterothysaninae Minet 1987

Griveaudiinae Minet, 1990

Callidulinae

Diversity
About 60 species

The mainly day-flying Callidulinae can be distinguished by their resting posture, which is the most butterfly-like, with the wings held closely over the back. Resembling the butterfly family Lycaenidae, these moths can be told apart by their antennae which taper to a point or may be very subtly clubbed. The more often night-flying Pterothysaninae and Griveaudiinae have a different adult resting posture (the latter roof-like in repose) and these were not placed within the Callidulidae until recently.[1]

Biology of most subfamilies and species is poorly known. Eggs are very flat in Griveaudiinae and Callidulinae, and caterpillars of Callidulinae are green with a shiny black head and have only been reported from ferns[2] forming a leaf roll in which they live, eat and finally pupate, while the pupa of Helicomitra appears to be subterranean.[3]

The closest relatives of Callidulidae are not known, but they are currently placed in a group that includes the three butterfly superfamilies, the "hook-tip moths" Drepanoidea and the "geometer moths" Geometroidea and also possibly Axioidea which share some structural characteristics.[4]

Cited references
  1. Minet, J. (1986). Ébauche d'une classification moderne de l'ordre des Lépidoptères. Alexanor 14(7): 291–313.
  2. Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni & Luis M. Hernández. HOSTS database. (Accessed May 2007)
  3. Minet, J. (1987). Description d'une chrysalide de Pterothysaninae (Lep. Callidulidae). Nouvelle Revue d'Entomologie (N.S.) 4(3): 312.
  4. Minet, J. (1999 [1988]). The Axioidea and Calliduloidea. Ch. 16, pp. 257–261 in Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.). Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches / Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Band / Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Teilband / Part 35: 491 pp. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York.

Other references
  • Minet, J. (1990 [1989]). Nouvelles frontières, géographiques et taxonomiques, pour la famille des Callidulidae (Lepidoptera, Calliduloidea). Nouvelle Revue d'Entomologie (N.S.) 6(4): 351–368.
  • Maddison, David R. 2003. Callidulidae. in The Tree of Life Web Project, Accessed October 2006
  • O'Toole, Christopher (Ed.) (2002) Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders. ISBN 1-55297-612-2
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