The Monotrysia are a group of moths in the lepidopteranorder, not currently considered to be a natural group or clade.[1] The group is so named because the female has a single genital opening for mating and laying eggs, in contrast to the rest of the Lepidoptera (Ditrysia), which have two female reproductive openings.[1][2] Later classifications used Monotrysia in a narrower sense for the nonditrysian Heteroneura, but this group was also found to be paraphyletic with respect to Ditrysia.[1][3] Apart from the recently discovered familyAndesianidae,[3][4] most of the group consists of small, relatively understudied species.
^Dugdale, J.S. (1974). Female genital classification in the classification of Lepidoptera. New Zealand Journal of Entomology, 1(2): 127-146. pdf[permanent dead link]
^Davis, D. R. and Gentili, P. (2003). Andesianidae, a new family of monotrysian moths (Lepidoptera: Andesianoidea) from South America. Invertebrate Systematics, 17: 15-26.Abstract
Further reading
Davis D. R. (1999). The Monotrysian Heteroneura. Pages 65–90 in: Lepidoptera: Moths and Butterflies. 1. Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbook of Zoology Vol. IV, Part 35. N. P. Kristensen, ed. De Gruyter, Berlin and New York.
