REVISION OF MOTHS OF CARPOSINIDAE 6 



be mentioned. The larva demonstrates its uniqueness by possessing 

 only two prespiracular setae on the pronotum, thus differing from the 

 typical number of three found in nearly all microlepidopterous larvae. 

 The genus Carposina, with two included species, was first proposed 

 by Herrich-Schiiffer in 1855, who included it in his polyglot concept 

 of the family Tineidae. Subsequent authors tended mainly to treat the 

 genus either as an aberrant member of the Gelechiidae or to include 

 it somewhere among the Tortricoidea. After studying some of the 

 Australian species, Meyrick (1882) separated Carposina from the 

 Gelechiidae largely on the basis of venational and palpal characters 

 and considered it to be a member of the Conchylidae (Tortricina). 

 The first authority to advocate the separation of these moths as a 

 distinct group was Walsingham. In 1897, this author proposed the 

 Carposinae as a new subfamily of Tortricidae for a previously un- 

 described African genus and species, Autogriphus luteus. The other two 

 coordinate subfamilies he included in his paper were the Tortricinae 

 and Olethreutinae. In Fauna Hawaiiensis, Walsingham (1907) 

 emphasized the separation further by raising the group to family rank. 

 Busck (1907) apparently unaware of Walsingham's earher treatment, 

 stated that the genus Carposina belonged to a very abnormal group 

 of the subfamily Phaloniinae along with one Japanese and three 

 Australian genera. Busck further suggested that the group might 

 warrant a separate subfamily status. Since that time the treatment 

 of these moths as comprising a distinct family within the Tortricoidea 

 has been rather consistent. In one of the most recent discussions on the 

 supergeneric classification of the Tortricoidea, Diakonoff (1961) again 

 pointed out several unique or unusual features of the Carposinidae 

 and proposed a new superfamily, Carposinoidea, for this group of 

 moths. This treatment has been followed in the present paper. 



Biology 



Distribution. — In the most recent catalog of the Carposinidae, 

 Meyrick (1922) listed 8 genera and 128 species for the world. In 1954, 

 Diakonoff recognized 24 genera for the world and proposed 31 new 

 species from New Guinea alone. The present size of the family prob- 

 ably approximates 200 described species. 



The zoogeographical distribution of the group strongly suggests 

 an Indo-Australian origin for the family. Approximately three-quarters 

 of the world's genera and species are known from this area, and most 

 of these occur no where else. Meyrick (1922) listed 6 genera and 31 

 species from Australia, and Diakonoff (1954) recorded 10 genera and 

 44 species as occuring in the Papuan region. Subsidiary centers of 

 speciation have developed in Oceania around the southern periphery 



