Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 56(1) March 1999 31 Case 3048 NYMPHULINAE Duponchel, [1845] (Insecta, Lepidoptera): proposed precedence over acentropinae Stephens, 1835 M. Alma Solis Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Agriculture Research Service, USDA. National Museum of Natural History. MRC 168, Washington. DC. 20560, U.S.A. (e-mail:
[email protected]) Abstract. The purpose of this application is to conserve usage of the name NYMPHULINAE Duponchel, [1845] for a widely distributed subfamily of crambid moths; it is the only taxon in the Lepidoptera with true aquatic caterpillars. The name NYMPHULINAE is accepted by most workers as a subjective synonym of acentropinae Stephens, 1835. The senior name has been used as a valid name only a small number of times in recent years; it is proposed that nymphulinae should be given precedence when the two names are regarded as synonyms. Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Lepidoptera; crambidae; acentropinae; nymphulinae; Aceniropus: Nymplmla. 1. Stephens (1835, p. 148) established the family-group name acentropidae based on the nominal genus Acentropus Curtis. 1834 (folio 497). type species by original designation Aceturopus garnonsii Curtis, 1834 (folio 497). Acentropus was originally placed in the Trichoptera, but Westwood ([1835], p. 117) transferred the genus to the Lepidoptera. 2. Duponchel ([1845], p. 201) established the family-group name nymphulites as a subtribe based on the nominal genus Nymphula Schrank, 1802 (p. 162) to include the crambid moths with true aquatic caterpillars. Following an application to the Commission (Fletcher & Nye, 1982), Phulaena stagnata Donovan, 1806 was desig-nated as the type species of Nymphula by use of the plenary powers (Opinion 1406, October 1986); both Nymphula and Phalaena stagnata were placed on Official Lists. Currently, the nymphulinae has 93 genera (Fletcher & Nye, 1984), including Acentropus, and more than 700 species (Heppner, 1991) worldwide. It is the only taxon in the Lepidoptera with aquatic caterpillars, predominantly feeding on plants associated with water. A few species are known to damage rice and water lilies, and some have been found to be predators on the simuliidae (blackflies). Some species have been tested for the biological control of aquatic weeds. 3. Speidel (1981, 1984) treated nymphulinae as a junior synonym of acentropinae when he revised the Palearctic acentropinae. The synonymy of nymphulinae and acentropinae has been generally accepted (e.g., Inoue, 1982; Fletcher & Nye, 1984; Palm, 1986; Munroe, 1995; Shaffer. Nielsen & Horak, 1996). but these authors have all chosen to use nymphulinae as the valid name. The Commission Secretariat has a list of 72 representative works in the last 20 years using the name nymphulinae. Minet (1982, p. 269) suggested that the Commission should
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