Xyloryctidae

Xyloryctidae is a family of moths contained within the superfamily Gelechioidea described by Edward Meyrick in 1890. Most genera are found in the Indo-Australian region. While many of these moths are tiny, some members of the family grow to a wingspan of up to 66 mm, making them giants among the micromoths.
The first recorded instance of a common name for these moths comes from Swainson's On the History and Natural Arrangement of Insects, 1840, where members of the genus Cryptophasa are described as hermit moths. This is an allusion to the caterpillar's habit of living alone in a purely residential burrow in a tree branch, to which it drags leaves at night, attaching them with silk to the entrance to the burrow and consuming the leaves as they dry out.
The name 'timber moths' was coined by the Queensland naturalist Rowland Illidge in 1892, later published in 1895, and serves to distinguish these moths from other wood-boring Australian moths such as ghost moths (Hepialidae) and giant wood moths (Cossidae), which feed on sap or wood. It refers to the fact that the larvae of most members of this family are arboreal, whether they burrow into branches, bore into flower heads, tunnel under bark, or feed on lichens. Moths of the genus Maroga are pests of wattles (Acacia) and have crossed over from their wild host plant to become serious pests of cultivated stone fruit trees, particularly cherries.
Formerly, Xyloryctidae were placed in the Oecophoridae as the subfamily Xyloryctinae. Recent research suggests the Xyloryctidae are an independent family, sharing common ancestry with the Oecophoridae, but not descended from them.
Taxonomy and systematics
The family includes the following genera:
Acompsogma Meyrick, 1938
Amorbaea Meyrick, 1908
Anachastis Meyrick, 1911
Anoditica Meyrick, 1938
Anoecea Diakonoff, 1951
Antisclerota Meyrick, 1938
Araeostoma Turner, 1917
Arignota Turner, 1898
Arsirrhyncha Meyrick, 1938
Athrypsiastis Meyrick, 1910
Bassarodes Meyrick, 1910
Bathydoxa Turner, 1935
Bida Walker, 1864
Boydia Newman, 1856
Brachybelistis Turner, 1902
Caenorycta Meyrick, 1922
Callicopris Meyrick, 1938
Capnolocha Meyrick, 1925
Catanomistis Meyrick, 1933
Catoryctis Meyrick, 1890
Chalarotona Meyrick, 1890
Chereuta Meyrick, 1906
Chironeura Diakonoff, 1954
Cilicitis Meyrick, 1938
Cladophantis Meyrick, 1918
Clepsigenes Meyrick, 1930
Clerarcha Meyrick, 1890
Comocritis Meyrick, 1894
Compsotorna Meyrick, 1890
Copidoris Meyrick, 1907
Crypsicharis Meyrick, 1890
Cryptophasa Lewin, 1805
Cyanocrates Meyrick, 1925
Cyphoryctis Meyrick, 1934
Donacostola Meyrick, 1931
Echiomima Meyrick, 1915
Epichostis Meyrick, 1906
Epidiopteryx Rebel in Rebel & Zerny, 1916
Eporycta Meyrick, 1908
Eschatura Meyrick, 1897
Eumenodora Meyrick, 1906
Eupetochira Meyrick, 1917
Exacristis Meyrick, 1921
Exoditis Meyrick, 1933
Gemorodes Meyrick, 1925
Ghuryx Viette, 1956
Glycynympha Meyrick, 1925
Gomphoscopa Lower, 1901
Gonioma Turner, 1898
Hermogenes Zeller, 1867
Heterochyta Meyrick, 1906
Hylypnes Turner, 1897
Hyperoptica Meyrick in Caradja & Meyrick, 1934
Idiomictis Meyrick, 1935
Illidgea Turner, 1898
Iulactis Meyrick, 1918
Leistarcha Meyrick, 1883
Leptobelistis Turner, 1902
Lichenaula Meyrick, 1890
Linoclostis Meyrick, 1908
Liparistis Meyrick, 1915
Lophobela Turner, 1917
Malacognostis Meyrick, 1926
Maroga Walker, 1864
Metantithyra Viette, 1957
Metathrinca Meyrick, 1908
Microphidias Meyrick, 1937
Mnarolitia Viette, 1954
Mystacernis Meyrick, 1915
Neospastis Meyrick, 1917
Niphorycta Meyrick, 1938
Opisina Walker, 1864
Pansepta Meyrick, 1915
Pantelamprus Christoph, 1882
Paraclada Meyrick, 1911
Paralecta Turner, 1898
Perixestis Meyrick, 1917
Philarista Meyrick, 1917
Phracyps Viette, 1952
Phthonerodes Meyrick, 1890
Pilostibes Meyrick, 1890
Plectophila Meyrick, 1890
Potniarcha Meyrick, 1917
Prothamnodes Meyrick, 1923
Psarolitia Viette, 1956
Pseudoprocometis Viette, 1952
Sphalerostola Meyrick, 1927
Stachyneura Diakonoff, 1948
Symphorostola Meyrick, 1927
Synchalara Meyrick, 1917
Telecrates Meyrick, 1890
Thymiatris Meyrick, 1907
Thysiarcha Meyrick, 1925
Thyrocopa Meyrick, 1883
Trypherantis Meyrick, 1907
Tymbophora Meyrick, 1890
Uzucha Walker, 1864
Xerocrates Meyrick, 1917
Xylodryadella T. B. Fletcher, 1940
Xylomimetes Turner, 1916
Xylorycta Meyrick, 1890
Zaphanaula Meyrick, 1920
Zauclophora Turner, 1900
References
Holloway, 2001, The families of Malesian moths and butterflies, Fauna Malesiana handbooks, (205).
Kaila, 2004, Phylogeny of the superfamily Gelechioidea (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia): an exemplar approach, Cladistics 20 303–340.
Hoare, 2005, Hierodoris (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Oecophoridae), and overview of Oecophoridae, Fauna of New Zealand, Ko te Aitanga Pepeke o Aotearoa, 54 pp. 13–25.
Richard brown, Sibyl Bucheli, and SangMi Lee, 2006, Gelechioidea, A Global Framework
Zborowski and Edwards, 2007, A Guide to Australian moths, CSIRO, 1–214.
External links
Mississippi Entomological Museum: List of Xyloryctidae Genera
Gelechioidea
Moth families