1887 engraving of Prodryas persephone, a fossil lepidopteran from the Eocene
The Lepidoptera fossil record encompasses all butterflies and moths that lived before recorded history. The fossil record for Lepidoptera is lacking in comparison to other winged species, and tending not to be as common as some other insects in the habitats that are most conducive to fossilization, such as lakes and ponds, and their juvenile stage has only the head capsule as a hard part that might be preserved. Yet there are fossils, some preserved in amber and some in very fine sediments. Leaf mines are also seen in fossil leaves, although the interpretation of them is tricky.[1] Putative fossil stem group representatives of Amphiesmenoptera (the clade comprising Trichoptera and Lepidoptera) are known from the Triassic.[2]: 567
Previously, the earliest known lepidopteran fossils were three wings of Archaeolepis mane, a primitive moth-like species from the Jurassic, about 190 million years ago, found in Dorset, UK, which show scales with parallel grooves under a scanning electron microscope and a characteristic wing venation pattern shared with Trichoptera (caddisflies).[3][4] In 2018, the discovery of exquisite fossilised scales from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary were reported in the journal Science Advances. They were found as rare palynological elements in the sediments of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary from the cored Schandelah-1 well, drilled near Braunschweig in northern Germany. This pushes back the fossil record and origin of glossatan lepidopterans by about 70 million years, supporting molecular estimates of a Norian (c. 212 million years) divergence of glossatan and non-glossatan lepidopterans. The authors of the study proposed that lepidopterans evolved a proboscis as an adaptation to drink
from droplets and thin films of water for maintaining fluid balance in the hot and arid climate of the Triassic.[5]
Only two more sets of Jurassic lepidopteran fossils have been found, as well as 13 sets from the Cretaceous, which all belong to primitive moth-like families.[1] Many more fossils are found from the Cenozoic, and particularly the Eocene Baltic amber. The oldest genuine butterflies of the superfamily Papilionoidea have been found in the Early Eocene (Ypresian) MoClay or Fur Formation of Denmark. The best preserved fossil lepidopteran is considered to be the Eocene Prodryas persephone from the Florissant Fossil Beds.[6][7]
^ abGrimaldi, D. and Engel, M. S. (2005). Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82149-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Powell, Jerry A. (2009). "Lepidoptera". In Resh, Vincent H.; Cardé, Ring T. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Insects (2 (illustrated) ed.). Academic Press. pp. 557–587. ISBN 978-0-12-374144-8. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
^Grimaldi, David A.; Michael S. Engel (2005). Evolution of the insects. Cambridge University Press. p. 561. ISBN 978-0-521-82149-0.
^Davies, Hazel; Butler, Carol A. (June 2008). Do butterflies bite?: fascinating answers to questions about butterflies and moths. Rutgers University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-8135-4268-3. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
^van Eldijk, Timo J. B.; Wappler, Torsten; Strother, Paul K.; van der Weijst, Carolien M. H.; Rajaei, Hossein; Visscher, Henk; van de Schootbrugge, Bas (10 January 2018). "A Triassic-Jurassic window into the evolution of Lepidoptera". Science Advances. 4 (1): e1701568. Bibcode:2018SciA....4.1568V. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1701568. PMC 5770165. PMID 29349295.
^Meyer, Herbert William; Smith, Dena M. (2008). Paleontology of the Upper Eocene florissant formation, Colorado. Geological Society of America. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-8137-2435-5. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
^Unacknowledged. "Lepidoptera – latest classification". Discoveries in Natural History & Exploration. University of California. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
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The Lepidopterafossilrecord encompasses all butterflies and moths that lived before recorded history. The fossilrecord for Lepidoptera is lacking in...
remained largely unchanged over the past 250 million years. The fossilrecord for Lepidoptera is lacking in comparison to other winged species and tends not...
fruit is a dry capsule containing numerous small winged seeds. Several fossil seeds and fruit fragments of †Weigela srodoniowae have been described from...
pollen of the flowers of many herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees. The fossilrecord of the group goes back to the middle-late Jurassic with the earliest...
type occurs. Ranunculus species are used as food by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Hebrew character and small angle shades. Some species...
70 species of flowering plants in the family Pentaphylacaceae. Several fossil seeds of Eurya stigmosa have been described from Middle Miocene strata of...
Poland. This fossil fruit is similar to the fruits of the extant species Rumex maritimus and Rumex ucranicus which both have fossilrecords from the Pliocene...
lythrum)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 31 January 2018. Graham, Shirley A. “FossilRecords in the Lythraceae.” Botanical Review, vol. 79, no. 1, 2013, pp. 48–145...
are eaten by the caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera, such as the moth Ethmia pusiella which has been recorded on L. officinale. The dried root of Lithospermum...
Various extinct species of Liriodendron have been described from the fossilrecord. Liriodendron trees are easily recognized by their leaves, which are...
most likely derived from terrestrial scorpion ancestors. The oldest fossilrecord of hexapod is obscure, as most of the candidates are poorly preserved...
Yunnan Province in China †Ostrya oregoniana (fossil) †Ostrya scholzii (fossil) †Ostrya scholzii fossil seeds of the Chattian stage, Oligocene, are known...
plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including common pug (recorded on harebell), dot moth, ingrailed clay (recorded on harebell), lime-speck...
This list of 2024 in paleoentomology records new fossil insect taxa that are to be described during the year, as well as documents significant paleoentomology...
species are extinct fossils, due to the paucity of their fossilrecord, only 1/100th of known insects are extinct fossils. Insect fossils are often three...
inner wall called the intine. The exine is what is preserved in the fossilrecord. Two basic types of microsporogenesis are recognised, simultaneous and...
researchers have recognized Parthenocissus fossil pollen. The sediment containing the Parthenocissus fossil pollen had accumulated in a lowland wetland...
PMC 6868187. PMID 31748672. Skalski, A. W. (1973). "Studies on the Lepidoptera from Fossil Resins. Part II. Epiborkhausenites obscurotrimaculatus gen. et...
species of moth. Other Lepidoptera species whose larvae sometimes feed on Hypericum include the common emerald, the engrailed (recorded on imperforate St....
by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the moths Coleophora auricella, C. lineolea, and C. wockeella, all recorded on S. officinalis. They...
Florissant Shale Lagerstätte of Late Eocene Colorado. P. persephone is the first fossil butterfly to be found in North America, and is exquisitely well preserved...
lotus. Ziziphus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Bucculatrix zizyphella, which feeds exclusively on...
taxonomy for two sister orders: Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) and Trichoptera (caddisflies). In 2017, a third fossil order was added to the group,...
and migrated to East Asia via the Bering land bridge in the Miocene. Fossilrecords show that Thuja was significantly more widely distributed during the...
Australia Ailanthus vietnamensis H.V.Sam & Noot. – Vietnam There is a good fossilrecord of Ailanthus with many species names based on their geographic occurrence...
birds. Aralia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the common emerald (Hemithea aestivaria). There are...
Forest in the United Kingdom, and Halltorps hage in Öland, Sweden. Three fossil fruits of Carpinus betulus have been extracted from borehole samples of...
as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including pine processionary and turnip moth (recorded on deodar cedar).[citation needed] Cedars...
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