Ghosts from the past: a review of fossil Hepialoidea (Lepidoptera).

ABSTRACT

We critically re-examine nine of the ten fossil specimens currently assigned to Hepialidae. Three fossils with impressions of wing veins and scales placed in the fossil genus Prohepialus Piton, 1940, and two mummified larvae that show apomorphic characters, have features that support placement in Hepialidae. The other four fossils that we evaluate, Prohepialus incertus Piton, 1940; Oiophassus nycterus Zhang, 1989; Protohepialus comstocki Pierce, 1945; and a fossil scale, lack definitive hepialid characters. One of these, Prohepialus incertus Piton, 1940, appears to represent a symphytan (Hymenoptera), and is excluded from Lepidoptera. The fossilized wings placed in Prohepialus by Jarzembowski display numerous features that indicate a proximate phylogenetic relationship to extant members of the hepialid genus Sthenopis Packard and related genera.