Epicephala (leafflower moths) is a genus of moths in the family Gracillariidae.
Epicephala is of note in the fields of pollination biology and coevolution because many species in this genus are pollinators of plants in the genera Glochidion, Phyllanthus, and Breynia (Phyllanthaceae). These pollinating Epicephala actively pollinate the flowers of their host plants—thereby ensuring that the plants may produce viable seeds—but also lay eggs in the flowers' ovaries, where their larvae consume a subset of the developing seeds as nourishment.Kato, M.; Takimura, A.; Kawakita, A. (2003) "An obligate pollination mutualism and reciprocal diversification in the tree genus Glochidion (Euphorbiaceae)." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. 100 (9): 5264–5267Kawakita, A.; Kato, M. (2004) "Evolution of obligate pollination mutualism in New Caledonian Phyllanthus (Euphorbiaceae)." American Journal of Botany 91: 410–415.Kawakita, A.; Kato, M. (2004) Obligate pollination mutualism in Breynia (Phyllanthaceae): further documentation of pollination mutualism involving Epicephala moths (Gracillariidae). American Journal of Botany. 91:1319–1325.Kawakita, A.; Kato, M. (2009) "Repeated independent evolution of obligate pollination mutualism in the Phyllantheae-Epicephala association." Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 276: 417–426.Hembry, D. H.; Okamoto, T.; Gillespie, R. G. (2012) Repeated colonization of remote islands by specialized mutualists. Biology Letters. 8: 258–261.Zhang, J.; Wang, S.; Li, H.; Hu, B.; Yang, X.; Wang, Z. (2012) "Diffuse coevolution between two Epicephala species (Gracillariidae) and two Breynia species (Phyllanthaceae). PLOS ONE. 7: e41657.Luo, S.-X.; Yao, G.; Wang, Z.; Zhang, D.; Hembry, D. H. (2017) "A novel, enigmatic basal leafflower moth lineage pollinating a derived leafflower host illustrates the dynamics of host shifts, partner replacement, and apparent co-adaptation in intimate mutualisms." The American Naturalist. 189: 422–435. This relationship is similar to other specialized pollinating seed-predation mutualisms such as those between figs and fig wasps and yuccas and yucca moths.
Other species of Epicephala consume the seeds of species of Phyllanthus or Flueggea (Phyllanthaceae) as larvae, but do not pollinate their host plants as adults.Hu, B.; Wang, S.; Zhang, J.; Li, H. (2011) "Taxonomy and biology of two seed-parasitic gracillariid moths (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), with description of a new species." ZooKeys. 83, 43–56 At least some of these species have evolved from pollinating ancestors.Kawakita, A.; Kato, M. 2009. "Repeated independent evolution of obligate pollination mutualism in the Phyllantheae-Epicephala association." Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 276: 417–426.
Species Epicephala acrobaphes (Turner, 1900) Epicephala acrocarpa Meyrick, 1927 Epicephala albifrons (Stainton, 1859) Epicephala albistriatella (Turner, 1894) Epicephala ancistropis Meyrick, 1935 Epicephala ancylopa Meyrick, 1918 Epicephala angustisaccula Li, 2015 Epicephala anthophilia Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 Epicephala australis (Turner, 1896) Epicephala bathrobaphes Turner, 1947 Epicephala bipollenella Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012Zhang, J., Hu, B., Wang, S. & Li, H. (2012). "Six new species of Epicephala Meyrick, 1880 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) associated with Phyllanthaceae plants." Zootaxa 3275: 43-54. Epicephala bromias Meyrick, 1910 Epicephala calasiris Meyrick, 1908 Epicephala camurella Li, 2015 Epicephala colymbetella Meyrick, 1880 Epicephala corruptrix Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 Epicephala domina Li, 2015 Epicephala epimicta (Turner, 1913) Epicephala eriocarpa Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012 Epicephala euchalina Meyrick, 1922 Epicephala eugonia Turner, 1913 Epicephala exetastis Meyrick, 1908 Epicephala flagellata Meyrick, 1908 Epicephala frenata Meyrick, 1908 Epicephala haplodoxa Vári, 1961 Epicephala homostola Vári, 1961 Epicephala impolliniferens Li, 2015 Epicephala jansei Vári, 1961 Epicephala laeviclada Li, 2015 Epicephala lanceolaria Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012 Epicephala lanceolatella Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 Epicephala lativalvaris Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012 Epicephala lomatographa Turner, 1913 Epicephala microcarpa Li, 2015 Epicephala mirivalvata Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012 Epicephala nephelodes Turner, 1913 Epicephala nudilingua Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 Epicephala obovatella Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 Epicephala orientale (Stainton, 1856) Epicephala parasitica Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 Epicephala pelopepla Vári, 1961 Epicephala periplecta (Diakonoff, 1955) Epicephala perplexa Kawakita A, Kato M, 2016 Epicephala pyrrhogastra Meyrick, 1908 Epicephala relictella Kuznetzov, 1979 Epicephala scythropis Meyrick, 1930 Epicephala sphenitis Meyrick, 1931 Epicephala spinula Clarke, 1986 Epicephala spumosa Turner, 1947 Epicephala squamella Kuznetzov & Baryshnikova, 2001 Epicephala stauropa Meyrick, 1908 Epicephala strepsiploca Meyrick, 1918 Epicephala subtilis Meyrick, 1922 Epicephala tephrostola Vári, 1961 Epicephala tertiaria Li, 2015 Epicephala trigonophora (Turner, 1900) Epicephala venenata Meyrick, 1935 Epicephala vermiformis Meyrick, 1936 Epicephala vitisidaea Zhang, Hu, Wang & Li, 2012 Epicephala zalosticha Turner, 1940
References
External links
Global Taxonomic Database of Gracillariidae (Lepidoptera) Youtube video of an Epicephala lanceolaria pollinating a host Glochidion lanceolarium flower