Drepanidae (Hasenfuss, 2000)

Young, Catherine J., 2006, Molecular relationships of the Australian Ennominae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) and implications for the phylogeny of the Geometridae from molecular and morphological data, Zootaxa 1264 (1), pp. 1-147 : 1-147

The Drepanidae as sister group to the Geometridae

This relationship was strongly supported by the 28S D2 data (Fig. 10) and a MP analysis based on morphological characters (Fig. 16) (unpubl. data). In a combined morphological and molecular analysis (using 28S D2 data) (unpubl. data) the Drepanidae form a basal unresolved polytomy with the Larentiinae and the Sterrhinae (Fig. 17). As the sister group relationship of the Drepanidae with the Geometridae is well supported in two independent analyses it is accepted as the most likely hypothesis here.

The Drepanoidea consist of the Epicopeiidae and Drepanidae , while the Geometroidea unite the Sematuridae , Uraniidae and Geometridae (sensu Minet 1991) . The two groups were linked as sister groups by Minet on two pupal synapomorphies: strong anterior extension of the forelegs and presence of a transverse dorsal groove between A9 and A10 ( Minet & Scoble 1999). Other characters shared by the two super­families are reduction of larval prolegs (although this only occurs in the anal prolegs in the Drepaninae and A3­5 prolegs in the Geometridae ), larval arboreal feeding, the lack of tympanal organs in the metathorax and the presence of an abdominal tympanum ( Minet & Scoble 1999). Holloway (1994) also mentioned the occurrence in both super­families of four pairs of cremastral setae in the pupa, although this appears to be very variable in both groups ( Nakajima 1970; Holloway 1994).

Nakamura (1981) also noted a relationship between the Noctuoidea, Drepanoidea and Geometroidea on pupal features. He placed the Drepanoidea as intermediate between the Noctuoidea and the Geometroidea as a large exposed labial palpus in the pupa, characteristic of noctuids, appears also in the Thyatiridae and the seta L4 and dorsal furrow, characteristic of geometrids, is present in the pupae of Thyatiridae and Cyclidiidae . The larval L4 seta is also present in Thyatiridae ( Stehr et al. 1987) . The lack of anal prolegs in the Drepaninae needs to be treated with caution as a synapomorphy as only a small proportion of larvae have been described ( Scoble & Edwards 1988) and most likely it has no correlation with absence of prolegs in other abdominal segments.

The two taxa used in this analysis belong to the subfamily Drepaninae . Commonly known as hook­tips, drepanines are geometrid­like and usually nocturnal. Their larvae generally have a caudally pointed anal shield, a feature often present in geometrids, although it is probable that this character is an adaptation to an arboreal lifestyle ( McGuffin 1958) and therefore likely to be homoplasious. Drepanine genitalia are diverse in structure but often present the following characteristics, which also exist in the Geometridae (Holloway 1998) : socii are often very well developed (also a feature of the Geometrinae and some ennomines) and bilobed papillae anales in the female [this modification also occurs in Sterrhinae such as Scopula Schrank and is illustrated in Idaea Treitschke in Holloway (1997)].