A contribution towards an understanding of the morphology and phylogeny of the Ditrysian Lepidoptera

Abstract

Summary 1. A morphological study of five body regions of the Lepidoptera has been made, these being (a) the radial system of the mesothoracic wing, (b) the mesothoracic sternopleural region, (c) the ventral thoraco-abdominal articulative (and adjacent) structures, including the integumental components of the tympanum where present, (d) the dorsal thoraco-abdominal articulation, etc., and (e) the metathoracic furca or endosternite. These regions were selected because the nature of the variation they exhibit suggested that, of the much larger number of regions primarily investigated, they are the most likely to provide information on the evolution of the higher taxa in the order. None of these regions had been investigated at all fully previously, and therefore a considerable amount of basic morphological study was necessary as a preliminary to phylogenetic discussion. This morphological work has been extended to include the primitive Lepidoptera (with the Trichoptera) in the case of the mesosternopleural r...