Banana Waspmoth

[DR. JAMES ADAMS]

Dear Listers

> Pierre Zagatti wrote:
> 
> >Syntominae is not really archaic, it simply concerns an Old World
> >Arctiid subfamily (genera Syntomis, Dysauxes). Till recently,
> >Syntominae and Ctenuchinae were considered as synonyms, but
> >these groups are not related and now Ctenuchinae is restricted
> >to New World moths.

Actually, there are a few Afro- and Indotropical ctenuchines, but 
these indeed represent a very small percentage of what is an 
extremely rich group in the Neotropics.
 
And Doug Yanega wrote:

> Who published this revision that separated Syntomines from Ctenuchines??

I'm not sure who originated this distinction, but I do know a couple 
of books that discuss this.  One of them may be "The Lepidoptera" by 
Scoble -- I'll go home and check my copy.  From what I understand, 
the syntomines are, in essence, "wasp-like" but relatively closely 
related to the very large subfamily of typically small arctiids, the 
Lithosiinae.

James

Dr. James K. Adams
Dept. of Natural Science and Math
Dalton State College
213 N. College Drive
Dalton, GA  30720
Phone: (706)272-4427; fax: (706)272-2533
U of Michigan's President James Angell's 
  Secret of Success: "Grow antennae, not horns"