Hyposmocoma

Hyposmocoma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Cosmopterigidae
Subfamily: Cosmopteriginae
Genus: Hyposmocoma
Butler, 1881
Synonyms
  • Bubaloceras Walsingham, 1907
  • Euperissus Butler, 1881
  • Neelysia Walsingham, 1907
  • Hyposmochoma
  • Agonismus Walsingham, 1907
  • Aphthonetus Walsingham, 1907
  • Rhinomactrum Walsingham, 1907
  • Dysphoria Walsingham, 1907
  • Euhyposmocoma Swezey, 1913
  • Hyperdasysella T. B. Fletcher, 1940
  • Hyperdasys Walsingham, 1907
  • Phthoraula Meyrick, 1935
  • Euperissus Butler, 1881
  • Semnoprepia Walsingham, 1907
  • Petrochroa Busck, 1914[1]
  • Diplosara Meyrick, 1883

Hyposmocoma is a genus of moths with more 350 species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The genus was first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1881. Most species of Hyposmocoma have plant-based diets, but four species, such as Hyposmocoma molluscivora, eat snails. The caterpillars spin silk, which they then use to capture and eat snails. These are the first caterpillars known to eat snails (or mollusks of any kind).[2]

Some species feature amphibious caterpillars. This trait has evolved at least three times within this genus.[3]

  1. ^ Busck, August (1914). "New Microlepidoptera from Hawaii". Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus. 2 (7): 104–105.
  2. ^ Rubinoff D, Haines WP (July 2005). "Web-spinning caterpillar stalks snails". Science. 309 (5734): 575. doi:10.1126/science.1110397. PMID 16040699. S2CID 42604851.
  3. ^ Roach, John (July 21, 2005). "Flesh-Eating Caterpillars Discovered in Hawaii". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011.