Wurthiini
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| Wurthiini | |
|---|---|
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| Niphopyralis chionesis, adult | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Crambidae |
| Subfamily: | Spilomelinae |
| Tribe: | Wurthiini Roepke, 1916[1] |
Wurthiini is a tribe of the species-rich subfamily Spilomelinae in the pyraloid moth family Crambidae.
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Adult Wurthiini are small to medium-sized moths with wing spans of normally 20 to over 30 mm,[2][3] whereas adults of Niphopyralis are usually somewhat smaller, with wingspans of 12 to 22 mm, and the males being smaller than the females.[4][5][6]
In the male genitalia, the uncus consists of a single head bearing stiff chaetae, or it is bicapitate (Niphopyralis). The tegumen-vinculum complex is more or less elongate rounded. The valvae are slender and tapering towards the apex, with the costa weakly to strongly concave (e.g. in Apilocrocis novateutonialis; see [2]: 444 ). The juxta is usually deeply split or divided into two juxta arms (a synapomorphy of the tribe). The fibula is broad triangular and ventrally directed. On its mesal side, the valva sacculus is produced as a strongly sclerotised arm that usually ends dorsally in a broad, spinulose tip or a needleshaped projection, and in Aristebulea, Mimetebulea and Pseudebulea, the mediodorsal sacculus bears a medially directed process. The male genitalia of Niphopyralis are highly derived.[7]: 171
The female genitalia exhibit a strongly sclerotised lamella antevaginalis and usually a short, membraneous ductus bursae (strongly sclerotised in Niphopyralis). The signum in the corpus bursae is either absent (Mimetebulea, Niphopyralis) or present as a small to large rounded to short transverse sclerotisation.[3][2][7]
The larvae and pupae of Wurthiini are only known for Niphopyralis;[5][6] see there for a morphological description.
Food plants
Very little is known about the food plants of Wurthiini. The caterpillars of Apilocrocis glaucosia feed on Celtis iguanaea (Cannabaceae).[8]
The larvae of Niphopyralis are myrmecophilous brood parasites in nests of nest-weaving ants of the genera Oecophylla and Polyrhachis, where they feed on their hosts' eggs, larvae and pupae.[5][6]