Sterrhostoma [SEP] parent taxon
Sterrhostoma
Sterrhostoma is a genus of moth in the family Gelechiidae. It contains the species Sterrhostoma heterogastra, which is found in Indonesia (Java).
The wingspan is about 7 mm. The forewings are dark grey, closely speckled whitish except along the costa, which forms a slender dark grey slightly expanding streak ceasing abruptly at the origin of the cilia. The remainder of the costa and termen are occupied by distinct white transverse striolation, preceded by two white spots before the apex. The hindwings are grey.
Taxon in disguise
In bacteriology, a taxon in disguise is a species, genus or higher unit of biological classification whose evolutionary history reveals has evolved from another unit of similar or lower rank, making the parent unit paraphyletic. This happens when rapid evolution makes a new species appear radically different from the ancestral group, so that it is not (initially) recognised as belonging to the parent phylogenetic group, leaving the latter an evolutionary grade.
While the term is from bacteriology, parallel examples are found throughout the tree of