A revised, cladistic classification of the Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) with descriptions of new taxa mainly from South Africa

This study began as an attempt to classifY the Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) of southern Africa and to provide descriptionptions of the taxa involved. Most of the specimens collected from the area are housed in the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria and were readily available for examination. The majority were painstakingly collected over the years by Dr L. Vari, and many were reared from the larval stage. Some of the species represented in this collection fell into higher taxa already descriptionbed from Europe and North America. However, many did not. This family includes the smallest lepidopterans, and the larvae of most species mine in the parenchyma of leaves although in some species they tunnel in bark, stems, petioles, winged-seeds and perhaps buds. As the work progressed it soon became clear that the existing nepticulid classification, which was almost entirely based on Nearctic and Palaearctic species, was inadequate. Clearly a new framework was required. Chapters 2 and 3 - Genera, subgenera and species from Southern Africa.