Review of the genus Diduga Moore (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae) of Taiwan, with descriptions of two new species.

Two new species, Diduga taiwana sp. n. and D.

A new euptychiine butterfly species from south Brazil and taxonomic rearrangements for Taydebis Freitas, 2013 and Hermeuptychia Forster, 1964 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae).

A new species of Taydebis Freitas, 2003 from south Brazil is described using comparative morphology and species distributions. Also, based on morphology, we transfer Neonympha melobosis Capronnier, 1874 (formerly placed in Paryphthimoides Forster, 1964) to Taydebis, and recognize Euptychia peculiaris Butler, 1874 as its junior synonym (syn. nov.

Fifty years without a name: a new species of Splendeuptychia Forster (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae).

A new satyrine butterfly species, Splendeuptychia tupinamba Freitas, Huertas Rosa, sp. nov. (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae), is described.

An overview of arginussa species group of Memphis Hbner, [1819], with the description of a new species from Panama (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Charaxinae).

Memphis Hbner, [1819] is a nymphalid butterfly genus exclusive to the Neotropics. It includes species with iridescent bluish or greenish coloration on the upper side of the wings while the underside is cryptic, resembling dead leaves. This paper aims to describe a remarkable new species, M.

Reinstatement of Athis miastagma (Dyar, 1925) (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) as a valid species inhabiting the Pacific slope of Central Mexico.

Mexico is the Mesoamerican country with the highest number of Castniidae species (12), most of which are found in the dry regions of the country. Among these, Athis hechtiae (Dyar, 1910) was considered a species widely distributed in Mexico after Athis miastagma (Dyar, 1925) was synonymized with A. hechtiae over two decades ago.

Hidden Phylogenomic Signal Helps Elucidate Arsenurine Silkmoth Phylogeny and the Evolution of Body Size and Wing Shape Trade-Offs.

One of the key objectives in biological research is understanding how evolutionary processes have produced Earth's diversity. A critical step toward revealing these processes is an investigation of evolutionary tradeoffs-that is, the opposing pressures of multiple selective forces. For millennia, nocturnal moths have had to balance successful flight, as they search for mates or host plants, with evading bat predators.

Phylogeny of gracillariid leaf-mining moths: evolution of larval behaviour inferred from phylogenomic and Sanger data.

Gracillariidae is the most taxonomically diverse cosmopolitan leaf-mining moth family, consisting of nearly 2000 named species in 105 described genera, classified into eight extant subfamilies. The majority of gracillariid species are internal plant feeders as larvae, creating mines and galls in plant tissue. Despite their diversity and ecological adaptations, their phylogenetic relationships, especially among subfamilies, remain uncertain.

First Annotated Genome of a Mandibulate Moth, Neomicropteryx cornuta, Generated Using PacBio HiFi Sequencing.

We provide a new, annotated genome assembly of Neomicropteryx cornuta, a species of the so-called mandibulate archaic moths (Lepidoptera: Micropterigidae). These moths belong to a lineage that is thought to have split from all other Lepidoptera more than 300 Ma and are consequently vital to understanding the early evolution of superorder Amphiesmenoptera, which contains the order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) and its sister order Trichoptera (caddisflies). Using PacBio HiFi sequencing reads, we assembled a highly contiguous genome with a contig N50 of nearly 17 Mb.

Conserved ancestral tropical niche but different continental histories explain the latitudinal diversity gradient in brush-footed butterflies.

The global increase in species richness toward the tropics across continents and taxonomic groups, referred to as the latitudinal diversity gradient, stimulated the formulation of many hypotheses to explain the underlying mechanisms of this pattern. We evaluate several of these hypotheses to explain spatial diversity patterns in a butterfly family, the Nymphalidae, by assessing the contributions of speciation, extinction, and dispersal, and also the extent to which these processes differ among regions at the same latitude. We generate a time-calibrated phylogeny containing 2,866 nymphalid species (~45% of extant diversity).

A database and checklist of geometrid moths (Lepidoptera) from Colombia.

Background: Molecular DNA sequence data allow unprecedented advances in biodiversity assessments, monitoring schemes and taxonomic works, particularly in poorly-explored areas. They allow, for instance, the sorting of material rapidly into operational taxonomic units (such as BINs - Barcode Index Numbers), sequences can be subject to diverse analyses and, with linked metadata and physical vouchers, they can be examined further by experts. However, a prerequisite for their exploitation is the construction of reference libraries of DNA sequences that represent the existing biodiversity.

A Contribution Towards Resolving the Systematics of the High-Altitude Tropical Andean Satyrine Genus Altopedaliodes Forster, 1964 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalinae: Satyrinae).

The first phylogenetic hypotheses for the high Andean satyrine butterfly genus Altopedaliodes is proposed based on sequence data from mitochondrial (COI and COII) and nuclear (EF-1α) genes. Four species previously included in the genus were found not to be closely related to the clade containing the type species for Altopedaliodes, and these species are therefore removed and placed in the appropriate genus: Pedaliodes cocytia (C. Felder and R.

A new species of Tisis Walker from North Sumatra, Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Lecithoceridae).

A new species of the genus Tisis Walker is described from Sumatra, Indonesia, which is very close to T. sumatraensis Park, 2007.

One Hundred Years of Solitude: rediscovery of Catasticta lycurgus (Godman amp; Salvin, 1880), a yellow butterfly from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia (Lepidoptera: Pieridae).

Catasticta lycurgus is a striking endemic butterfly, restricted to high elevation habitats in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, an isolated mountain range separate from the Andes in the north of Colombia. The type, which for almost a hundred years was the only known specimen, was collected in 1878 by Frederick Simons in the vicinity of Atánquez and was sent to the UK to be described by renowned naturalists Godman and Salvin in 1880. In 1972, explorers Adams and Bernard collected a second specimen of C.

De novo genome assemblies of butterflies.

Background: The availability of thousands of genomes has enabled new advancements in biology. However, many genomes have not been investigated for their quality. Here we examine quality trends in a taxonomically diverse and well-known group, butterflies (Papilionoidea), and provide draft, de novo assemblies for all available butterfly genomes.

Evolutionary trade-offs between male secondary sexual traits revealed by a phylogeny of the hyperdiverse tribe Eumaeini (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae).

Male butterflies in the hyperdiverse tribe Eumaeini possess an unusually complex and diverse repertoire of secondary sexual characteristics involved in pheromone production and dissemination. Maintaining multiple sexually selected traits is likely to be metabolically costly, potentially resulting in trade-offs in the evolution of male signals. However, a phylogenetic framework to test hypotheses regarding the evolution and maintenance of male sexual traits in Eumaeini has been lacking.

A new Andean genus, , with descriptions of four new species and two new Neotropical species of (Noctuidae, Pantheinae).

Martinez, is proposed as a new Neotropical genus of Pantheinae, forming a sister group to Dognin, 1891 based on a phylogenetic analysis. In addition, one new combination and four new species are proposed: (Walker, 1865), (Colombia), Martinez, (Ecuador), Martinez, (Colombia), Martinez, (Ecuador), and Martinez, (Ecuador). Two new Neotropical species of are described, Martinez, and Martinez,

Revision of the Hawaiian endemic leaf-mining moth genus Philodoria Walsingham (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae): its conservation status, host plants and descriptions of thirteen new species.

Philodoria Walsingham, 1907 is a threatened, Hawaiian endemic genus of leaf-mining gracillariid moths that feeds as larvae on many threatened and endangered Hawaiian endemic plants. These moths are poorly studied and species lack detailed descriptions of morphology, distribution data, and natural history information of adults and immatures. Based on extensive fieldwork from 2013 to 2016, and examination of museum specimens, we describe or redescribe 51 species, 13 which are new species and provide biological and distribution data for 41 species.

The Galápagos Islands: biogeographic patterns and geology.

In the traditional biogeographic model, the Galápagos Islands appeared a few million years ago in a sea where no other islands existed and were colonized from areas outside the region. However, recent work has shown that the Galápagos hotspot is 139 million years old (Early Cretaceous), and so groups are likely to have survived at the hotspot by dispersal of populations onto new islands from older ones. This process of metapopulation dynamics means that species can persist indefinitely in an oceanic region, as long as new islands are being produced.

Hard to catch: experimental evidence supports evasive mimicry.

Most research on aposematism has focused on chemically defended prey, but the signalling difficulty of capture remains poorly explored. Similar to classical Batesian and Müllerian mimicry related to distastefulness, such 'evasive aposematism' may also lead to convergence in warning colours, known as evasive mimicry. A prime candidate group for evasive mimicry are butterflies, which are agile insects and show remarkable colour pattern convergence.

Phylogeny and classification of Odonata using targeted genomics.

Dragonflies and damselflies are a charismatic, medium-sized insect order (~6300 species) with a unique potential to approach comparative research questions. Their taxonomy and many ecological traits for a large fraction of extant species are relatively well understood. However, until now, the lack of a large-scale phylogeny based on high throughput data with the potential to connect both perspectives has precluded comparative evolutionary questions for these insects.

Light environment drives evolution of color vision genes in butterflies and moths.

Opsins, combined with a chromophore, are the primary light-sensing molecules in animals and are crucial for color vision. Throughout animal evolution, duplications and losses of opsin proteins are common, but it is unclear what is driving these gains and losses. Light availability is implicated, and dim environments are often associated with low opsin diversity and loss.

Genomics Reveals the Origins of Historical Specimens.

Centuries of zoological studies have amassed billions of specimens in collections worldwide. Genomics of these specimens promises to reinvigorate biodiversity research. However, because DNA degrades with age in historical specimens, it is a challenge to obtain genomic data for them and analyze degraded genomes.

Description of a new genus and species for a common and widespread Amazonian satyrine butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini).

We here propose a new monotypic butterfly genus Nakahara & Espeland, to accommodate a new species, Lamas & Nakahara, , described and named herein. is a relatively common and widespread butterfly species which is recovered as a member of the so-called " clade" in the nymphalid subtribe Euptychiina, based on our molecular phylogenetic analysis using a maximum likelihood approach. Nevertheless, its sister group is not confidently resolved in any analysis, supporting a relatively distant relationship to any described genus as well as our decision to establish a new monotypic genus.

Revision of Roelofa Schaus, 1928 (Lepidoptera, Mimallonidae, Roelofinae) with a description of a new species.

The mimallonid genus Roelofa is revised. It is the only genus belonging to the recently erected subfamily, Roelofinae.Both sexes and genitalia are figured for all previously described species in the genus, and all are redescribed.