[Taxacom] Ghost moth biogeography

[John Grehan]

Dear colleagues,

Obscure group, but maybe of interest to some for general application.
Abstract below. Anyone interested in a pdf please email me.

John Grehan

JOHN R. GREHAN & CARLOS G.C. MIELKE 2018. Evolutionary biogeography and
tectonic history of the ghost moth families Hepialidae, Mnesarchaeidae, and
Palaeosetidae in the Southwest Pacific (Lepidoptera: Exoporia). Zootaxa
4415 (2): 243-275.

Abstract
The biogeographic history of Exoporia (Lepidoptera) in the Southwest
Pacific is reconstructed for genera and species that show distributional
boundaries corresponding to tectonic structures in the region. Correlations
with tectonic formations of Mesozoic origin such as the Whitsunday Volcanic
Province and Otway-Bass-Gippsland Basin system in Australia, the Vitiaz
Fracture Zone in northern Melanesia, and the Western Province-Eastern
Province boundary, Waitaki Fault Zone, and Waihemo Fault Zone of New
Zealand are presented as evidence of an East Gondwana origin for genera and
species before the geological separation of Australia and New Zealand. The
correlated boundaries also suggest that many extant species retain at least
parts of their original East Gondwana distribution ranges. The presence of
Exoporia on the northern Melanesian Arc, New Caledonia, and New Zealand is
attributed to the tectonic isolation of these areas when East Gondwana
expanded into the Pacific following retreat of the Pacific Plate subduction
zone. Local endemism of Mnesarchaeidae in New Zealand is interpreted as the
result of an original vicariance from a widespread ancestor (‘Exoporia’)
resulting in two allopatric descendants —a narrowly distributed
Mnesarchoidea and a widely distributed Hepialoidea. The current overlap of
these two groups in New Zealand is explained as the result of subsequent
range expansion by the Hepialoidea prior to geological fragmentation of
East Gondwana. The potential impact of Cretaceous geography on modern
distributions is also considered for Exoporia in southern Africa and
northern America. Along with lateral displacement of Exoporia, tectonic
processes also contributed to the origin of high elevation endemics through
a process of passive tectonic uplift.