Phylledestes
Encyclopedia
Phylledestes is an extinct genus
of butterfly
from the Miocene
shale
s of Florissant, Colorado
. It contains only one species, Phylledestes vorax, described from a fossil
larva
. Its family
and superfamily
placement is uncertain, though it has been proposed to belong to the family Noctuidae
of the superfamily Noctuoidea
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
from the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
s of Florissant, Colorado
Florissant, Colorado
Florissant is a census-designated place and a U.S. Post Office in Teller County, Colorado, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 104.Florissant, Colorado, was named after Florissant, Missouri, the hometown of the founding family...
. It contains only one species, Phylledestes vorax, described from a fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
. Its family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
and superfamily
Superfamily
The term superfamily is used to describe several different concepts in different scientific fields:* Superfamily and Superfamily : a level of biological classification; redirects to Taxonomic rank...
placement is uncertain, though it has been proposed to belong to the family Noctuidae
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....
of the superfamily Noctuoidea
Noctuoidea
Noctuoidea is the superfamily of noctuid or "owlet" moths, and has the largest number of species described for any Lepidopteran superfamily. Its classification has not yet reached a satisfactory or stable state. The most recent classifications include only four families in the superfamily;...
.
See also
- Prehistoric LepidopteraPrehistoric LepidopteraPrehistoric Lepidoptera are both 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...
- Prehistoric insectsPrehistoric insectsPrehistoric insects are various groups of insects that lived before recorded history. Their study is the field of paleoentomology. Insects inhabited Earth since before the time of the dinosaurs. The earliest identifiable insect is the Devonian Rhyniognatha hirsti, estimated at...
- Florissant Fossil Beds National MonumentFlorissant Fossil Beds National MonumentFlorissant Fossil Beds National Monument is a United States National Monument in Teller County, Colorado, that is noted for its fossils. It is located in a mountain valley just west of Pikes Peak and holds spectacular remnants of prehistoric life...