Elachista

For the genus of Chordariaceae brown algae, see Elachista (alga). As invalidly described by V. Kollar in 1832, Elachista refers to the Lyonetiidae moth genus Lyonetia.

Elachista
Adult Elachista argentella
at IJmuiden, the Netherlands
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Elachistidae
Subfamily: Elachistinae
Genus: Elachista
Treitschke in Ochsenheimer, 1833
Type species
Elachista bifasciella
Treitschke in Ochsenheimer, 1833
Species

Numerous, see text

Synonyms

Numerous, see text

Elachista is a genus of gelechioid moths described by Georg Friedrich Treitschke in 1833.[1] It is the type genus of the grass-miner moth family (Elachistidae). This family is sometimes (in particular in older sources) circumscribed very loosely, including for example the Agonoxenidae and Ethmiidae which seem to be quite distinct among the Gelechioidea, as well as other lineages which are widely held to be closer to Oecophora than to Elachista and are thus placed in the concealer moth family Oecophoridae here.[2]

These grass-miners are very small moths with the "feathery" hindwings characteristic of their family. They are essentially found worldwide, except in very cold places and on some oceanic islands; as usual for Gelechioidea, they are most common in the Palearctic however. They usually have at least one, sometimes as many as three light bands running from leading to trailing edge of their forewing uppersides. Some species, however, have upper forewings that are mostly white.[3]

  1. ^ Lauri Kaila (11 July 2019). "An annotated catalogue of Elachistinae of the World (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Elachistidae)". Zootaxa. 4632 (1): 1–231. doi:10.11646/ZOOTAXA.4632.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 31712495. Wikidata Q86984314.
  2. ^ AEBR (2008), FE (2009)
  3. ^ AEBR (2008), FE (2009), and see references in Savela (2008)