How pygmy moths started to diversify 100 million years ago
Tuesday, November 1, 2016 - 07:51
in Biology & Nature
The leaf-mining pygmy moths (family Nepticulidae) and the white eyecap moths (family Opostegidae) are among the smallest moths in the world with a wingspan of just a few millimeters. Their caterpillars make characteristic patterns in leaves: leaf mines. For the first time, the evolutionary relationships of the more than 1000 species have been analyzed on the basis of DNA, resulting in a new classification.