Himantopteridae
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The analysis of Yen et al. (2005) associated this Afrotropical and Oriental family with the Anomoeotidae, a family that is also Afrotropical but is much more weakly represented in the Oriental Region (N.W. India). This pairing was also supported by the analysis of Mutanen et al. (2010), as illustrated in Fig 2. Fänger et al. (1999) stated that these two families share a unique morphology of the thoraco-abdominal transition and the occurrence of multiple spines on the abdominal segments of the adult.
Nieukerken et al. (in press) include the Anomoeotinae as a subfamily of the Himantopteridae. The analysis also included the Mediterranean type genus of the Heterogynidae in the same clade, casting doubt on, but not definitely rejecting, the hypothesis that the Heterogynidae are sister-group to the Zygaenidae; such doubts were supported by the molecular analysis of Niehuis et al. (2006) but, in the analysis of Mutanen et al. (2010), the Heterogynidae form part of a larger sister group to the Zygaenidae (Fig 2).
Figure 2: Diagram of relationships between Zygaenoidea, Cossoidea and Sesioidea from the analysis of of Mutanen et al. (2010) with that for Zygaenoidea groups from the analysis of Reiger et al. (2009) to show the differences in structure. In the main tree all zygaenoid groups sampled are shown, with those represented in Borneo shown in bold. The rest of the diagram is restricted to those groups of Cossidea (C) and Sesioidea (S) that do occur in Borneo. * The Anomoeotidae are now placed as a subfamily of the Himantopteridae, and Metarbelinae are raised to full family status by Nieukerke et al. (in press).
The Himantopteridae belong to the Limacodid-group of families (Epstein, 1996; reviewed by Holloway et al., 2001; Niehuis et al., 2006). The general features of the adults are as in the type genus, described below.
The larval head is retractile as in the Limacodidae, and there are secondary setae on verrucae. However, these may also occur elsewhere and are sometimes plumose. The abdominal segments have subdorsal glandular protuberances that bear minute deciduous setae; such setae can also occur in pockets near the spiracles in the final instar; a similar feature is seen in the Afrotropical and Mediterranean Somabrachidae (Epstein et al., in Kristensen, (1998)). Prolegs are present on A3-6 and have a double mesoseries of crochets. This description is based on that for the type genus in Barlow & Carter (1996); see also below. Larvae in African genera may have a symbiotic relationship with termites (Epstein et al. in Kristensen (1998)), and Piepers & Snellen (1902 [1903]) recorded a comment by Oberthür that, according to Doherty, the larva of H. fuscinervis Wesmael lived in termite nests, but this may have been an extrapolation from the African observation.
