Encentrotis [SEP] parent taxon
Encentrotis
Encentrotis is a genus of moth in the family Gelechiidae. It contains the species Encentrotis catagrapha, which is found in South Africa.
The wingspan is about 16 mm. The forewings are pale glossy ochreous, with a few fuscous scales and with the base of the costa dark fuscous. There is a rather large dark fuscous dot towards the costa at one-third. The plical and second discal stigmata are rather large and dark fuscous. The hindwings are light 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