Genomic evidence suggests further changes of butterfly names.

Further genomic sequencing of butterflies by our research group expanding the coverage of species and specimens from different localities, coupled with genome-scale phylogenetic analysis and complemented by phenotypic considerations, suggests a number of changes to the names of butterflies, mostly those recorded from the United States and Canada. Here, we present evidence to support these changes. The changes are intended to make butterfly classification more internally consistent at the genus, subgenus and species levels. I.e., considering all available evidence, we attempt to assign similar taxonomic ranks to the clades of comparable genetic differentiation, which on average is correlated with the age of phylogenetic groups estimated from trees. For species, we use criteria devised by genomic analysis of the genetic differentiation across suture zones and comparison of sympatric populations of closely related species. As a result, we resurrect 4 genera and 1 subgenus from subgeneric status or synonymy, change the rank of 8 currently used genera to subgenus, synonymize 7 genus-group names, summarize evidence to support 19 taxa as species instead of subspecies and 1 taxon as subspecies instead of species, along with a number of additional changes. One new genus and one new subspecies are described. Namely, the following taxa are treated as genera Scudder, 1876, Verity, 1943, Zhdanko, 1995, and Zhdanko, 1995. Grote, 1898 is a valid subgenus (not a synonym of Boisduval, Rambur, [Duménil] & Graslin, [1833]) that consists of C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865 (Müller, 1764), (Hübner, [1809]), and (A. Butler, 1871). The following are subgenera: Scudder, 1872 of Fabricius, 1807; Dalman, 1816 and Hübner, [1819] of Kluk, 1780; Butler, 1871 of Hübner, [1819]; Muschamp, 1915 of Scudder, 1875; Hübner, [1819] and Wallengren, 1853 of Schrank, 1801 and Callaghan, 1985 of Grishin, (type species Stoll, [1780], parent subfamily [Leach], [1815]) is described. Murray, 1875 is fixed as the type species of Sibatani & Ito, 1942. The following taxa are junior subjective synonyms: Klots, 1930 of Grote, 1898; Scudder, 1876, Sibatani & Ito, 1942, Sibatani & Ito, 1942, Verity, 1943, Shirôzu & Yamamoto, 1956, and Inomata, 1986 of Scudder, 1876; Trujano & García, 2018 of Strand, 1932; Godart, 1819 (lectotype designated herein) of (Esper, 1794), dos Passos & Grey, 1945 of (dos Passos & Grey, 1945), and Plötz, 1879 of (Fabricius, 1793). The following are revised genus-species combinations: (Hewitson, 1875) (Brévignon & Gallard, 1993), (Brévignon, 2013), (P. Jauffret & J. Jauffret, 2007), (P. Jauffret & J. Jauffret, 2007) and (Godman & Salvin, 1889). The following species are transferred between subgenera: Lucas, 1852 belongs to Boisduval, Rambur, [Duménil] & Graslin, [1833] instead of Kuznetsov, 1929 and (Cramer, 1777) belongs to Kluk, 1780, and not to Hübner, 1816. The following taxa are distinct species rather than subspecies (of species shown in parenthesis): (Schaus, 1911) (not (Esper, 1794)), Strecker, 1885 (not W. H. Edwards, 1871), Boisduval, 1869 and W. H. Edwards, 1874 (not W. H. Edwards, 1864), Westwood, [1851] (not (Müller, 1764)), N. Riley, 1926 (not (Linnaeus, 1758)), (M. Smith & Brock, 1988) (not (W. H. Edwards, 1879)), (Tinkham, 1944) (not (Ménétriés, 1855)), (Reakirt, [1867]) (not (Fabricius, 1793)), (Scudder, 1872) and (Evans, 1952) (not (Herrich-Schäffer, 1869)), Godman & Salvin, 1896, (not (Cramer, 1777)), Dixon, 1955 (not (Cramer, 1775)), (Godman & Salvin, 1894) (not (Möschler, 1877)), J. Scott & Davenport, 2017 (not (Fabricius, 1793)), (W. H. Edwards, 1863) and (W. H. Edwards, 1870) (not (Pallas, 1771)), H. Freeman, 1993 (not Godman, 1900), and D. Stallings & Turner, 1956 (not Poling, 1902). Resulting from these changes, the following are revised species-subspecies combinations: (Clench, 1979), L. Miller, 1987, Gunder, 1931, J. A. Comstock, 1925, (J. Emmel, T. Emmel & Mattoon, 1998), (Austin, 1984), (Moeck, 1950), (dos Passos & Grey, 1945), (dos Passos & Grey, 1945), W. H. Edwards, 1879, (Garth, 1949), W. H. Edwards, 1878, (Moeck, 1947), and (R. Holland, 1988), W. H. Edwards, 1890, (Michener, 1942), (M. Smith & Brock, 1988), (Skinner, 1893), (J. Scott, 1981), (Evans, 1952), (Evans, 1952), (Evans, 1952), Austin, 1998, (Scudder, 1868) and Mattoon & Tilden, 1998. American subspecies placed under other than W. H. Edwards, 1869, Alpheraky, 1897 and W. Holland, 1900 belong to Grishin, is described from Cuba. dos Passos & Grey, 1942 is considered a subspecies-level taxon. Unless stated otherwise, all subgenera, species, subspecies and synonyms of mentioned genera and species are transferred together with their parent taxa, and others remain as previously classified.