Nemaxera

Nemaxera
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Tineidae
Genus:	Nemaxera Zagulajev, 1964
Species:	N. betulinella
Binomial name
Nemaxera betulinella (Paykull, 1785)

Nemaxera is a genus of the fungus moth family, Tineidae. Therein, it belongs to the subfamily Nemapogoninae. The genus it is considered monotypic, with the single species Nemaxera betulinella placed here.^[1]

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 6

The species occurs in western Eurasia east of France; it is also found in Great Britain but appears to be absent from the Balkans. Its caterpillars feed mainly on fungi, namely birch polypore (Piptoporus betulinus) and turkey tail (Trametes versicolor). To a lesser extent, they eat rotting wood.^[2]

Junior synonyms of N. betulinella are:^[3]

• Nemaxera emortuella (Zeller, 1839)
• Tinea betulinella Paykull, 1785
• Tinea concinnella Hübner, [1836]
• Tinea corticella Curtis, 1834 (non Linnaeus, 1758: preoccupied)
• Tinea emortuella Zeller, 1839 – type of genus Nemaxera

Footnotes

1. Pitkin & Jenkins (2004), FE (2009), Robinson [2010], and see references in Savela (2001)
2. Grabe (1942), FE (2009), and see references in Savela (2001)
3. Pitkin & Jenkins (2004), FE (2009), Robinson [2010]

References

• Fauna Europaea (FE) (2009): Nemaxera. Version 2.1, 2009-DEC-22. Retrieved 2010-MAY-05.
• Grabe, Albert (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen ["Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars"]. Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins 27: 105-109 [in German]. PDF fulltext
• Pitkin, Brian & Jenkins, Paul (2004): Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species – Nemaxera. Version of 2004-NOV-05. Retrieved 2010-MAY-05.
• Robinson, Gaden S. [2010]: Global Taxonomic Database of Tineidae (Lepidoptera). Retrieved 2010-MAY-05.
• Savela, Markku (2001): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Nemaxera. Version of 2001-NOV-04. Retrieved 2010-MAY-05.