Tale of two families: biogeography of Micropterigidae and Agathiphagidae (Lepidoptera)

The biogeographic structure of Micropterigidae and Agathiphagidae is described. The range of Micropterigidae is widespread, other than the core regions of Gondwana comprising most of Africa and India. Extant Agathiphagidae are localized to eastern Australia and nearby Pacific islands which have a history of continental fragmentation (New Caledonia) or East Gondwana island arc rifting (Solomons, Vanuatu, Fiji). The origin of fossil Agathiphagidae and an extant genus of Micropterigidae, originally known from Australasia (Aureopterix), is discussed in reference to Gondwana fragmentation, Tethys geography, and oceanic island arcs. A pattern of absence or marginal presence in the distributions of Micropterigidae and Agathiphagidae and other basal Lepidotpera groups from core Gondwana regions (Africa, Madagascar, India) may indicate that the ancestral range of Lepidoptera was sub-cosmopolitan. Many basal clades of Lepidoptera, including Micropterigidae and Agathiphagidae, have distributions associated with major centres of basal endemism such as the Tasman-Coral Sea region and the Chilean Coastal Range region. Absence of Micropterigidae on island arcs along the Vitiaz Lineament may represent remnants of original allopatry between this family and the Agathiphagidae that was lost in the Australian and New Caledonian sectors of East Gondwana following range expansion by Micropterigidae