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This tribe was defined by Forbes (1948) at a time when the type species
of Gonodontis Hübner was thought to be Odontopera bidentata Clerck,
a species perhaps allied to the Ennomini. The type species was established as delia
Cramer by Warren (1893), a fact recorded by Fletcher (1979) but overlooked
in the past. Hence any concept of the tribe must now be based on delia and
allied taxa. These include the two Indo-Australian genera discussed below, one
of which is Gonodontis, the other Xylinophylla Warren.
The African genera Xenimpia Warren and Coenina Walker show
some similarities in wing shape and facies, but Coenina, unlike Xenimpia,
does not share many male genitalic features with the Indo-Australian genera.
The uncus in Coenina bears some similarities but a gnathus is present,
the vinculum is divided with slight lateral loops that often support coremata,
the valve has a strong costal zone, and the eighth sternite of the abdomen is not
bilobed. There is no setal comb on sternite 3, and the tympanal organs are
relatively much smaller.
Unusual features shared by Gonodontis, Xylinophylla and Xenimpia
include: strong sexual dimorphism in facies and wing shape, the females with
more crenulate wing margins; an excavate hindwing apex; a punctate forewing
submarginal with white spots, when present, invariably strong subcostally; the
uncus is robust, laterally setose, set on a tegumen that is deep throughout and
appears to be contiguous with the vinculum; the gnathus is absent; there is a
strong saccus; the valve lacks a distinct costa, and its lamina is evenly
scattered with dorsally directed setae; the male eighth sternite is often
bilobed, centrally cleft; the ovipositor lobes are long, narrow, with long
apodemes and with a basal zone of setae that are much longer than those over the
tapered apical portion; ventrally between the lobes is a narrow, wedge-shaped
sclerotisation. The male antennae are bipectinate over the basal two thirds in Gonodontis
and Xenimpia, ciliate in Xylinophylla. A setal comb on male
sternite 3 is present only in Xylinophylla, as are lateral coremata
between segments 4 and 5, and 5 and 6.
The larvae of the Indo-Australian genera are described below, and appear
to be characterised by the presence of paired subdorsal tubercles, particularly
on the anterior abdominal segments. There is no apparent host-plant
specialisation. The type species of Xenimpia has been reared from the
family Rutaceae (Pinhey, 1975).
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