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Mnesarchaeoidea is a superfamily of "New Zealand primitive moths" containing one family, Mnesarchaeidae and two genera, Mnesarchaea and Mnesarchella, both being endemic to New Zealand.

Contents

 * 1 Taxonomy and Systematics
 * 2 Distribution and Development
 * 3 Morphology and Identification
 * 4 Biology and behavior
 * 5 Species
 * 6 History
 * 7 References

Taxonomy and Systematics
Mnesarchaeoidea is part of the order of Lepidoptera which comprises moths and butterflies. The term Lepidoptera comes from 'lepis' and 'pteron' which mean scales and wings respectively. The majority of members in this order have a lot of morphological similarities including compound eyes, wings, thorax and scales. Members of Lepidoptera also go through multiple stages in their life cycle and undergo metamorphosis. The common stages are egg, larva, pupa, and adult with slight variation between certain species. Larvae hatch from eggs on host plants and begin feeding to reach maturity. Larvae can be either herbivorous or carnivorous depending on the species. Larvae lack wings, only able to crawl to travel as they continue growing. As larvae grow, they molt, eventually to the point they are ready to reach maturity. The larvae then suspend themselves from a suitable place such as a branch and spin a silk pad known as a chrysalis to allow the larvae to reach adult stage. These changes between one stage to another are controlled by gene regulation, turning certain genes off and on between one stage and another.

Mnesarchaeoidea constitutes the living sister taxon to the superfamily Hepialoidea, with one difference between the superfamilies is that members of the Hepialoidea superfamily have tongues. Within Mnesarchaeoidea, there are two distinct genera, Mnesarchaea and Mnesarchella. The two are separated by differences in morphology and color. Mnesarchaea are white on the head and thorax scales, while Mnesarchella have brown heads and thorax scales. Within Mnesarchella, there are two distinct groups. These groups are the acuta and fusilella groups. There are a variety of differences between the two including a difference in cornuti. Members of the acuta group have a base plate with multiple pointed spines while members of the fusilella group have large cornuti with only a single or double spine. There are currently 14 known species belonging to this family, four belonging to the Mnesarchaea genus and 10 to Mnesarchella. They are also a part of the infraorder Exoporia, otherwise known as ghost moths.

Distribution and Development
The species within Mnesarchaeiodea are all endemic species to New Zealand. Even within this single country, different species only occur in certain areas within New Zealand, no known species occur throughout the entire country. New Zealand is comprised of multiple islands, the main two being Te Ika-a-Māui in the north and Te Waipounamu to the south. Certain species of Mnesarchaeiodea live on both the islands while others only live on one or the other.

Members of Mnesarchaeoidea live on a 1 year cycle, hatching from eggs in the fall, living as larvae and then reaching full maturity in the spring. Their habitats range from mossy forests to deep gullies and ravines depending on the species.

Morphology and Identification
Like all members of the Lepidoptera order, Mnesarchaeoidea are capable of flight. This is due to their complex scaled wings that allows them to fly in a variety of patterns such as parachuting, circling and diving. Veins in Lepidoptera wings have a variety of uses. They help exchange oxygen for the organisms and provide aerodynamic qualities. Differences in vein pattern between species can impact the flight patterns of one versus another.

Mnesarchaeoidea have a variety of features that separate them from other groups. These features include porrect antennae, pseudofrenular hindwing structures, and porrect, scaled maxillary palpi .The mouthparts of the adult moths are functional, unlike Hepialoidea. About seven species are not yet described, and the group is under revision by Gibbs et al. (see also Gibbs, 1979; Dugdale, 1988). Their notable traits are their small wingspan of less than 12 mm and their brown bodies. The family has numerous unique physical traits including "wing venation with a single Rs1+2 vein; the lack of any positive wing-coupling mechanism; bilobed sternum A1 with external arms; male genitalia in which pseudoteguminal and valve plates are fused anteriorly to enclose a spacious subgenital crypt; female genitalia with unique elongate dorsal and subgenital plates, synscleritous anteriorly. " The members of this family share certain traits with other members of the Lepidoptera order such as "discrete mandibles that lack articulation or musculature; a short, coiled, functional proboscis with intrinsic muscle fibres; a primitively 3-segmented maxillary palp; functional salivary glands (as in Lophocoronidae). "

Biology and Behavior
Members of the Mnesarchaeoidea family are only active some parts of the year. They tend to be active from mid Spring to early Autumn in New Zealand. The earliest they are active is late October with the fusilella and the group last to stay active is hudsoni which peaks in March. Throughout the day, they are most active during daylight hours, minus times when the sun is most intense. A noticeable difference between male and females is that males are the only ones that fly to travel. Adults are generally active near ferns and in forest clearings.

Like most members of the Lepidoptera order, members of the Mnesarchaea family have a larval and adult stage. Females generally lay about 32 eggs in their lifetime. After the adults lay eggs, the larvae hatch after about 3-4 weeks. Larva of the family make silk-tunnels under foliage until they reach maturity, obtaining food from the tunnel. The larvae live in silken galleries among liverworts and soil detritus. Eventually the larvae form chrysalises and emerge as adults.

Adult members of Mnesarchaeoidea have notable differences between male and females. These range from differences in antennae, 05-0.7x forewing length for males and 0.4-0.5 in females, to differences in behavior, with males flying more frequently while females rarely taking flight. Members of Mnesarchaeoidea reproduce sexually. Males and females have physiological differences in genitalia. These differences include female genitalia having an extreme reduction of the abdominal apex within members of mnesarchaeids and for Mnesarchella, the subgenital plate the subgenital plate is broad for females.

Species
Genus Mnesarchaea Meyrick


 * Mnesarchaea fallax Philpott
 * Mnesarchaea fusca Philpott
 * Mnesarchaea hudsoni Gibbs sp. nov
 * Mnesarchaea paracosma Meyrick

Genus Mnesarchella Gibbs

acuta-group


 * Mnesarchella acuta
 * Mnesarchella falcata
 * Mnesarchella hamadelpha
 * Mnesarchella ngahuru
 * Mnesarchella philpotti
 * Mnesarchella stellae
 * Mnesarchella vulcanica

fusilella-group


 * Mnesarchella dugdalei
 * Mnesarchella fusilella
 * Mnesarchella toxoscia

History
Before the family was established, early collectors such as G.V. Hudson believed that individuals belonged to other families. An example is the Mnesarchaea fusiella which originally was thought to be in the Tinea family. This error was later corrected in the 1900s.