Subfamily Oenochrominae s. str.

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Subfamily Oenochrominae s. str.

Oenochrominae s. str. Guenée, A. in Boisduval, J.-A. & Guenée, A. (eds) 1857. Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Species général des Lépidoptères. Paris : Librarie Encyclopédique de Roret Vol. 10(2) 584 pp. [Oenochromidae].
Lyrceini Meyrick, E. 1883. Monograph of New Zealand Geometrina. New Zealand Journal of Science 1: 526-531 [subjective synonym; Lyrceini].
Monocteniini Meyrick, E. 1889. On some Lepidoptera from New Guinea. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1889: 455-522 [subjective synonym; Monocteniadae].

Introduction

The Oenochrominae s. str. are a predominantly Australasian group and most species are found in southern Australia. They contain the robust bodied moths of Oenochroma Guenée and Monoctenia Guenée and related genera. This group is mostly Australian.These oenochromines resemble each other superficially and have general morphological similarities in genitalia and wing venation, but Scoble and Edwards (1990) were unable to define synapomorphies for the group. Nonetheless they are characterised by the following features: robust bodies, well developed uncus and gnathos, broad valvae that sometimes bear various sclerotisations and a well-developed anellus. In most taxa the fultura superior fuses with the transtilla to form a rigid plate (Scoble & Edwards 1990). Food plants are from the Proteaceae and Myrtaceae (especially Eucalyptus) although Phallaria has also been recorded feeding on Acacia P. Mill. (Leguminosae) and Dodonaea L. (Sapindaceae) (McFarland 1988). The antennae of Proteaceae feeders are generally unipectinate and Myrtaceae feeders bipectinate (Holloway 2003); although an exception is the male of the eucalypt feeding Monoctenia smerintheria Felder & Rogenhofer, which has unipectinate antennae. Larvae often have an extra pair of vestigial prolegs on A5 (an exception is Phallaria ophiusaria Guenée (Anderson 1902)]. The pupae usually have only a single apical pair of robust and divergent cremastral setae (McFarland 1988). Common (1990) figured examples of many of these genera and gave much biological information. The only Australian genera to be recently revised were Parepisparis Bethune-Baker by Scoble & Edwards (1990) and Ozola Walker by Scoble & Sommerer (1998).

Commenting on the separation of Oenochrominae into two informal groups, Oenochrominae ss. and Oenochrominae sl., Edwards (pers comm. June 2012) says "the division is still useful but Oenochrominae (stout bodied) and Oenochrominae (slender bodied) would be a better terminology. Some of the slender bodied genera in Oenochrominae in Nielsen et al have now been separated as the Desmobathrinae".