Taxacom: biogeography of some primitive moths

[John Grehan]

For those interested, abstract and link below on biogeography of
Micropterigidae and Agathiphagidae. Article also includes a
suggestion about ancestral range of Lepidoptera at time of initial
divergence of extant families.

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Abstract
The biogeographic structure of Micropterigidae and Agathiphagidae is
described. The range of Micropterigidae is widespread, other than the core
regions of Gondwana comprising most of Africa and India. Extant
Agathiphagidae are localized to eastern Australia and nearby Pacific
islands which have a history of continental fragmentation (New Caledonia)
or East Gondwana island arc rifting (Solomons, Vanuatu, Fiji). The origin
of fossil Agathiphagidae and an extant genus of Micropterigidae,
originally known from Australasia (Aureopterix), is discussed in reference
to Gondwana fragmentation, Tethys geography, and oceanic island arcs. A
pattern of absence or marginal presence in the distributions of
Micropterigidae and Agathiphagidae and other basal Lepidotpera groups from
core Gondwana regions (Africa,  Madagascar, India) may indicate that the
ancestral range of Lepidoptera was sub-cosmopolitan. Many basal clades of
Lepidoptera, including Micropterigidae and Agathiphagidae, have
distributions associated with major centres of basal endemism such as
the Tasman-Coral Sea region and the Chilean Coastal Range region. Absence
of Micropterigidae on island arcs along the Vitiaz Lineament may represent
remnants of original allopatry between this family and the Agathiphagidae
that was lost in the Australian and New Caledonian sectors of East Gondwana
following range expansion by Micropterigidae



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