Opostegidae

Dobrynina, Viktorija, Stonis, Jonas R., Diškus, Arūnas, Solis, M. Alma, Baryshnikova, Svetlana V. & Shin, Young-Min, 2022, Global Nepticulidae, Opostegidae, and Tischeriidae (Lepidoptera): temporal dynamics of species descriptions and their authors, Zootaxa 5099 (4), pp. 450-474 : 458

Documenting of the global Opostegidae

The earliest species of the Opostegidae was Pseudopostega auritella , published in 1813, although not yet named as the family Opostegidae at that time ( Hübner 1796 –1838) ( Fig. 35 ). The analyzed data shows that discoveries of new Opostegidae species were extremely few until the 19th century: a maximum of four described species per time period or decade, or no species described at all. A surge in the number of descriptions was observed at the beginning of the 20th century. In the years 1911–1920 was the highest peak of discovery, when 35 new Opostegidae species were described. From 1931, a sharp decline was observed, which lasted until 1980: only three new species were described during this time period. The total or accumulative number of Opostegidae species gradually increased, and in 1981–1990 there was gradual increase in numbers every decade. The year 1981 opened up significant increase in the number of new species described. In 2001–2010 a record-breaking number of the Opostegidae species were described (74 new species) ( Davis & Stonis 2007; Remeikis et al. 2009). But from 2011, there was a decline once again, when only seven new species were described until 2021. A total of 197 Opostegidae species were published during 209 years of research; an average annual number of species descriptions is 0.94 a year. However, these averages significantly differ in the 19th century (0.22 species per year), the 20th century (0.97 species per year), and the 21st century (3.86 species per year).

Figures

FIGURES 34, 35. Dynamics of species descriptions during various time periods. 34, Nepticulidae; 35, Opostegidae