Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #390859
Research Project: Systematics of Hyper-Diverse Moth Superfamilies, with an Emphasis on Agricultural Pests, Invasive Species, Biological Control Agents, and Food Security

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Global Nepticulidae, Opostegidae, and Tischeriidae (Lepidoptera): temporal dynamics of species descriptions and their authors

Author
item DOBRYNINA, VIKTORIJA - Nature Research Centre
item STONIS, JONAS - Lithuanian University Of Educational Sciences
item DISKUS, ARUNAS - Lithuanian University Of Educational Sciences
item Solis, M Alma
item BARYSHNIKOVA, SVETLANA - Zooligical Institute
item SHIN, YOUNG-MIN - Korea National Arboretum

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/27/2022
Publication Date: 2/15/2022
Citation: Dobrynina, V., Stonis, J.R., Diskus, A., Solis, M.A., Baryshnikova, S., Shin, Y. 2022. Global Nepticulidae, Opostegidae, and Tischeriidae (Lepidoptera): temporal dynamics of species descriptions and their authors. Zootaxa. 5099 (4):450-474. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5099.4.2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5099.4.2

Interpretive Summary: Leaf mining moths are some of the smallest in the world. Some species are serious pests, for example, of citrus, and many feed in leaves of forest trees and other plants. We examine and discuss the history of descriptions and authorship of species worldwide for each of the three families. We found that the total (accumulative) number of species described increased with each time period delineated. About five new species were described per year on average, or about 22 new species were described per year in the 21st century. This research will be useful to biologists interested in the biodiversity of leaf mining moths.

Technical Abstract: This study identifies the number of named and described species of three monotrysian, plant-mining lepidopteran families worldwide: Nepticulidae and Opostegidae (Nepticuloidea), and Tischeriidae (Tischerioidea). At the end of 2021, we estimated that a total of 1000 Nepticulidae species, 197 Opostegidae species, and 170 Tischeriidae species have been described since the taxonomic practice of describing species began in the 18th century. We examine and discuss the history of descriptions and authorship of species worldwide for each of the three families. We found that the total (accumulative) number of species described increased with each time period delineated. About five new species were described per year on average, or about 22 new species were described per year in the 21st century. We recognize researchers with the most number of described species in these three taxa.