Agathiphaga

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Aglossata
Superfamilia: Agathiphagoidea

Familia: Agathiphagidae
Genus: Agathiphaga
Species (2): A. queenslandensis – A. vitiensis
Source(s) of checklist:
Checklist based on Catalogue of Life: 2014 Annual Checklist (seems OK)
Name

Agathiphaga Dumbleton, 1952: 18

Gender: [feminine]
Original status: valid genus
Type species: Agathiphaga vitiensis Dumbleton, 1952
Fixation: original designation (p. 18)

References

Dumbleton, L.J. 1952. A new genus of seed-infesting micropterygid moths. Pacific science 6(1): 17–29. hdl: 10125/8753 Reference page. [See p. 18]
Agathiphaga wing vestiture revisited: evidence for complex early evolution of lepidopteran scales (Lepidoptera: Agathiphagidae).
Derived morphology in a basal moth: The uniquely specialized sternum V glands of Agathiphaga (Lepidoptera: Agathiphagidae).

Agathiphaga is a genus of moths, known as kauri moths. It is the only living in the family Agathiphagidae. This caddisfly-like lineage of primitive moths was first reported by Lionel Jack Dumbleton in 1952, as a new genus of Micropterigidae.[1]

The caterpillars feed only on "kauri" (Agathis) and are currently considered the second most primitive living lineage of moths after Micropterigoidea.[2] The larvae have been reported to be able to survive for 12 years in diapause,[3] durability possibly a prerequisite to its possible dispersion around the Pacific islands in the seeds of Agathis.

Dumbleton described two species. Agathiphaga queenslandensis is found along the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, and its larvae feed on Agathis robusta.[4] Agathiphaga vitiensis is found from Fiji to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, and its larvae feed on Agathis vitiensis.

A fossil member of Agathiphagidae, Agathiphagama, is known from the Burmese amber of Myanmar, dating to the early Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, approximately 99 million years ago.[5]
References

Lionel Jack Dumbleton (1952). "A new genus of seed-infesting micropterygid moths" (PDF). Pacific Science. 6: 17–29.
N. P. Kristensen (1999). "The non-Glossatan moths". In N. P. Kristensen (ed.). Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Part 35. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 41–49.
M. S. Upton (1997). "A twelve-year larval diapause in the Queensland kauri moth, Agathiphaga queenslandiae Dumbleton (Lepidoptera: Agathiphagidae)". The Entomologist. 116: 142–143.
"Species Agathiphaga queenslandensis Dumbleton, 1952". Australian Faunal Directory. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. October 9, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
Mey, Wolfram; Léger, Théo; Lien, Vu Van (2021-10-03). "New taxa of extant and fossil primitive moths in South-East Asia and their biogeographic significance (Lepidoptera, Micropterigidae, Agathiphagidae, Lophocoronidae)". Nota Lepidopterologica. 44(): 29–56. doi:10.3897/nl.44.52350. ISSN 2367-5365.