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Next generation sequencing techniques currently represent a practical and efficient way to infer robust evolutionary hypotheses. Palyadini is a small Neotropical tribe of geometrid moths composed of six genera that feature strikingly colourful wings. Here, we investigated patterns of evolution and amount of phylogenetic signal contained in various colour characters featured in the wings of members of this tribe by (i) inferring a robust phylogenetic hypothesis using ultraconserved elements (UCEs), and afterwards, (ii) mapping the morphological characters onto the molecular topology under a parsimonious ancestral character optimization. Our matrix, obtained with 60% completeness, includes 754 UCE loci and 73 taxa (64 ingroup, nine outgroup). Maximum likelihood and parsimony generated largely identical topologies with strongly supported nodes, except for one node inside the genus Opisthoxia. According to our topology, most wing colour characters are reconstructed as homoplastic, particularly at the tribe level, but five of the seven provide evidence supporting common ancestry at the genus level. Our results emphasize, once again, that no character system is infallible, and that more research is necessary to take our understanding of the evolution of wing colour in moths to a level comparable with the knowledge we have for butterflies.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Butterfly eyespots are wing patterns reminiscent of vertebrate eyes, formed by concentric rings of contrastingly coloured scales. Eyespots are usually located close to the wing margin and often regarded as the single most conspicuous pattern element of butterfly wing colour displays. Recent efforts to understand the processes involved in the formation of eyespots have been driven mainly by evo-devo approaches focused on model species. However, patterns of change implied by phylogenetic relationships can also inform hypotheses about the underlying developmental mechanisms associated with the formation or disappearance of eyespots, and the limits of phenotypic diversity occurring in nature. Here we present a combined evidence phylogenetic hypothesis for the genus Eunica, a prominent member of diverse Neotropical butterfly communities, that features notable variation among species in eyespot patterns on the ventral hind wing surface. The data matrix consists of one mitochondrial gene region (COI), four nuclear gene regions (GAPDH, RPS5, EF1a and Wingless) and 68 morphological characters. A combined cladistic analysis with all the characters concatenated produced a single most parsimonious tree that, although fully resolved, includes many nodes with modest branch support. The phylogenetic hypothesis presented corroborates a previously proposed morphological trend leading to the loss of eyespots, together with an increase in the size of the conserved eyespots, relative to outgroup taxa. Furthermore, wing colour pattern dimorphism and the presence of androconia suggest that the most remarkable instances of sexual dimorphism are present in the species of Eunica with the most derived eyespot patterns, and are in most cases accompanied by autapomorphic combinations of scent scales and "hair pencils". We discuss natural and sexual selection as potential adaptive explanations for dorsal and ventral wing patterns.

Assuntos

RESUMO

A new species of Hygrochroma Herrich-Schäffer is described and illustrated from a male and two females deposited in Mexico's National Insect Collection. Hygrochroma xitle Garzón-Orduña sp. n. is distinguished from other Hygrochroma by its two, bold, longitudinal white lines on the ventral surface of the wings. The species name was chosen by a crowd-sourced initiative that presented the general public with five alternative names. Xitle, the name of an ancient volcano located inside Mexico City, was the most popular, winning over the others with 1,881 votes.

Assuntos

RESUMO

For more than a decade, various research groups have tracked the population genetics of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) in China and neighboring countries using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) DNA. Although most research has reported high levels of mtDNA variation, to date no efforts have been made to integrate and compare the results from these studies simultaneously. Here, we show that: 1) despite the fact that a large portion of the sampling effort has focused on the Yunnan province beginning in 2005, each subsequent study recovers only a small number of previously sampled haplotypes; 2) new haplotypes of B. dorsalis remain to be found, a projection of new haplotypes versus the number of individuals sampled suggest that sampling the species mtDNA diversity is far from reaching an asymptote; 3) it is unlikely that the observed genetic variation is the result of NUMTs (nuclear mitochondrial DNA), as most differences between haplotypes are silent substitutions; and 4) although all studies employed the 3' end of COI, the length of COI fragment sequenced differs among studies, making comparisons challenging. Therefore, we offer these results with the caveat that mtDNA diversity might be underestimated in China.

Assuntos

RESUMO

A new species of Ophthalmoblysis Scoble, 1995 from Mexico is described and illustrated: O. ibarrai Garzón-Orduña, sp.n. The species is known only from Los Tuxtlas (Veracruz, Mexico), and is distinguished by the shape and pattern of the hindwing eyespot. Unlike the eyespot of other species in Ophthalmoblysis, that of O. ibarrai has a smaller and not fully circular inner black disc. In addition, O. ibarrai can be distinguished from a similar, undescribed species from Costa Rica by the presence of a sclerotized extension at the tip of the male valva and by the shape of the cornutus in the vesica. Ophthalmoblysis ibarrai represents the northernmost member of the genus.

Assuntos