How pygmy moths started to diversify 100 million years ago into the more than 1050 species alive today
Monday, October 31, 2016 - 11:31
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 millimetres. Their caterpillars make characteristic patterns in leaves: leaf mines. For the first time, the evolutionary relationships of the more than 1000 species have been analysed on the basis of DNA, resulting in a new classification.