Family HELIOZELIDAE

Heliozelidae

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Introduction

This family, sometimes called 'shield bearers', contains minute moths, usually black with silver spots. The Australian fauna contains the largest species in the family in the genus Hoplophanes Meyrick and these are golden in colour. Australia has a rich fauna with over 50 species of which about half are named.

The Australian Heliozelidae have never been revised. One species was named by Francis Walker but all the endemic genera and the remaining species were described by Meyrick (1897a). The generic classification used here is based on E.S. Nielsen's unpublished work.

General References

Meyrick, E. 1897. Descriptions of Australian Microlepidoptera. XVII. Elachistidae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 22: 297-435

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