The Apameini (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) represent an enigmatic tribe comprising climbing cutworms, subterranean cutworms, and borers (endophagous larvae). The Apameini have been placed in as many as 5 subfamilies since 1983, and are believed to represent a lynchpin for understanding relationships within the trifine noctuids. Though believed to have arisen within numerous microlepidopteran groups, true endophagy is unusual for large caterpillars, having arisen most prominently in the Hepialidae, Sesiidae, Cossidae, Hesperiidae. Ongoing morphological work designed to circumscribe problematic apameine genera provides a roadmap to taxon sampling for molecular systematic research, preliminary results of which are presented in combination with adult morphological data. The macroevolution of larval feeding syndromes, most notably endophagy, is explored through post-hoc optimization as a potential mediator of host plant spectra.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Noctuidae (cutworm)
Keywords: endophagy
Back to Ten-Minute Papers, Section A. Systematics, Morphology, and Evolution
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