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Pterophoridae
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Pterophoridae

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Also known as plume moth

The Pterophoridae or plume moths are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings, giving them the shape of a narrow winged airplane. Though they belong to the Apoditrysia like the larger moths and the butterflies, unlike these they are tiny and were formerly included among the assemblage called "microlepidoptera".

Species

plume moths

FAMILY

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumArthropoda
  3. ClassInsecta
  4. OrderLepidoptera
  5. FamilyPterophoridae
Observations recorded442,637

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
1,994
With media
825
Family
Pterophoridae
Collections
YPM, MSU, UMNH, DMNS, UAM, UCSB
Recorded in
United States, Canada

~4 min read

Encyclopedic overview

6 sections
Contents
  • Description and ecology
  • Evolution
  • Taxonomy
  • Footnotes
  • References
  • External links

The Pterophoridae or plume moths are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings, giving them the shape of a narrow winged airplane. Though they belong to the Apoditrysia like the larger moths and the butterflies, unlike these they are tiny and were formerly included among the assemblage called "microlepidoptera".

==Description and ecology== left|thumb|Pupa of [[Platyptilia tetradactyla (Pterophorinae: Platyptiliini)]] The forewings of plume moths usually consist of two curved spars with more or less bedraggled bristles trailing behind. This resembles the closely related Alucitidae (many-plumed moths) at first glance, but the latter have a greater number of symmetrical plumes. The hindwings are similarly constructed, but have three spars. This unorthodox structure does not prevent flight. A few genera have normal lepidopteran wings.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Pterophoridae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (5)