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Most members of the nymphalid subfamily Limenitidinae are distributed in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Previous studies have inferred their higher-level phylogeny and found that Southeast Asia seems to be the center of origin, with numerous dispersal events to other continents. However, the complete biogeographic history of Limenitidinae butterflies is still largely unknown. We sampled 181 taxa from 164 species and used a metagenomic method to obtain 40 genes (mitogenomes and three nuclear ribosomal loci) for inferring the historical biogeography of the group. We find that Limenitidinae originated in eastern Asia during the early Eocene (ca. 52 Ma) and started to diversify and disperse into Africa before the end of Eocene. Intercontinental exchanges between Africa and eastern Asia continued in the early Miocene: Asian Adoliadini and Asian endemic taxa Bhagadatta had African origins in the Oligocene, whereas African Neptini dispersed in the opposite direction from Asia in the early Miocene. In addition, ancestors of the tribes Limenitidini and Adoliadini dispersed into the Neotropics and Australasia multiple times during the early-to-middle Miocene. Eastern Asia is the center of origin of the tribe Limenitidini, with several taxa disjunctly distributed in eastern Asia and the Americas. Our work provides a robust phylogenetic hypothesis of relationships in the tribe Limenitidini and suggests that the alala-species group of Adelpha should be placed in the genus Limenitis. Renamed taxa comb. nov. based on our findings are listed in the text.

Sexual dimorphism is a major component of morphological variation across the tree of life, but the mechanisms underlying phenotypic differences between sexes of a single species are poorly understood. We examined the population genomics and biogeography of the common palmflyElymnias hypermnestra, a dual mimic in which female wing colour patterns are either dark brown (melanic) or bright orange, mimicking toxicEuploeaandDanausspecies, respectively. As males always have a melanic wing colour pattern, this makesE. hypermnestraa fascinating model organism in which populations vary in sexual dimorphism. Population structure analysis revealed that there were three genetically distinctE. hypermnestrapopulations, which we further validated by creating a phylogenomic species tree and inferring historical barriers to gene flow. This species tree demonstrated that multiple lineages with orange females do not form a monophyletic group, and the same is true of clades with melanic females. We identified two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near the colour patterning geneWntAthat were significantly associated with the female colour pattern polymorphism, suggesting that this gene affects sexual dimorphism. GivenWntA's role in colour patterning across Nymphalidae,E. hypermnestrafemales demonstrate the repeatability of the evolution of sexual dimorphism.

Predator mimicry occurs when prey resemble their predator to gain protection. We explored the relative importance of the morphological and locomotor signals that spider-mimicking moths use to deceive their jumping spider predators. Two hypotheses explain why animals use multicomponent signals for communication: the ‘back-up signal’ hypothesis which suggests that multiple traits increase accuracy, and the ‘multiple message’ hypothesis which suggests that the different traits serve different purposes or target different signal receivers. We conducted predation tests using the putative spider-mimicking moths Brenthia coronigera (visual and locomotor mimicry) and Choreutis hyligenes (only locomotor mimicry) and a control moth species displaying no mimicry. We found that B. coronigera used multicomponent signals, i.e. pattern, display posture and jumping behaviour, to deceive its jumping spider predators, and thus experienced lower predation rates and more time for escaping. Spiders suffered a decreased predation rate when they encountered B. coronigera, relative to the other two moth species. Spiders displayed leg-waving behaviour (which is used in courtship and territorial display) to both live and lure B. coronigera, suggesting that the spiders considered the moths to be another jumping spider. When the eyespots of B. coronigera were erased, the predation rate increased. In addition, the latency of first attacks was significantly longer in live B. coronigera moths than in lures fixed in the display posture. This suggests that the eyespots, the ‘peacock-like’ display position and the jumping movement all add to the similarity with jumping spiders. Our results support the ‘back-up signal’ hypothesis: that multiple signals can deceive the predators better. Our experimental paradigm enabled us to explore the recognition ability of predators, and gave insight into the ways evolution shapes the mimicry system.

Six-locus phylogenetic analysis of Elymnias hypermnestra

Methods used to generate Figures S3, S4, and S5 in ESM file 1

Sexual dimorphism is a major component of morphological variation across the tree of life, but the mechanisms underlying phenotypic differences between sexes of a single species are poorly understood. We examined the population genomics and biogeography of the common palmfly Elymnias hypermnestra, a dual mimic in which female wing colour patterns are either dark brown (melanic) or bright orange, mimicking toxic Euploea and Danaus species, respectively. As males always have a melanic wing colour pattern, this makes E. hypermnestra a fascinating model organism in which populations vary in sexual dimorphism. Population structure analysis revealed that there were three genetically distinct E. hypermnestra populations, which we further validated by creating a phylogenomic species tree and inferring historical barriers to gene flow. This species tree demonstrated that multiple lineages with orange females do not form a monophyletic group, and the same is true of clades with melanic females. We identified two SNPs near the colour patterning gene WntA that were significantly associated with the female colour pattern polymorphism, suggesting that this gene affects sexual dimorphism. Given that WntA's role in colour patterning across Nymphalidae, E. hypermnestra females demonstrate the repeatability of the evolution of sexual dimorphism.

The present study evaluates the relationships among the Orthosiini genus Lithopolia Yoshimoto, 1993 and its related genera in Egira Duponchel, 1845 group. We propose the absence of signum on corpus bursae can be regarded as the synapomorphic character of Lithopolia. Based on this character, we transfer Egira phahompoki Hreblay & Ronkay, 1999 of N. Thailand (type locality) and W. China (new record) to Lithopolia (comb. nov.) and describe a closely related new species, L. tadaokanoi sp. nov., from Taiwan. The inner relationship of Lithopolia is also discussed.

Within the insect order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies), the so-called nonditrysian superfamilies are mostly species-poor but highly divergent, offering numerous synapomorphies and strong morphological evidence for deep divergences. Uncertainties remain, however, and tests of the widely accepted morphological framework using other evidence are desirable. The goal of this paper is to test previous hypotheses of nonditrysian phylogeny against a data set consisting of 61 nonditrysian species plus 20 representative Ditrysia and eight outgroups (Trichoptera), nearly all sequenced for 19 nuclear genes (up to 14700bp total). We compare our results in detail with those from previous studies of nonditrysians, and review the morphological evidence for and against each grouping The major conclusions are as follows. (i) There is very strong support for Lepidoptera minus Micropterigidae and Agathiphagidae, here termed Angiospermivora, but no definitive resolution of the position of Agathiphagidae, although support is strongest for alliance with Micropterigidae, consistent with another recent molecular study. (ii) There is very strong support for Glossata, which excludes Heterobathmiidae, but weak support for relationships among major homoneurous clades. Eriocraniidae diverge first, corroborating the morphological clade Coelolepida, but the morphological clades Myoglossata and Neolepidoptera are never monophyletic in the molecular trees; both are contradicted by strong support for Lophocoronoidea+Hepialoidea, the latter here including Mnesarchaeoidea syn.n. (iii) The surprising grouping of Acanthopteroctetidae+Neopseustidae, although weakly supported here, is consistent with another recent molecular study. (iv) Heteroneura is very strongly supported, as is a basal split of this clade into Nepticuloidea+Eulepidoptera. Relationships within Nepticuloidea accord closely with recent studies based on fewer genes but many more taxa. (v) Eulepidoptera are split into a very strongly supported clade consisting of Tischeriidae+Palaephatidae+Ditrysia, here termed Euheteroneura, and a moderately supported clade uniting Andesianidae with Adeloidea. (vi) Relationships within Adeloidea are strongly resolved and Tridentaformidae fam.n. is described for the heretofore problematic genus Tridentaforma Davis, which is strongly supported in an isolated position within the clade. (vii) Within Euheteroneura, the molecular evidence is conflicting with respect to the sister group to Ditrysia, but strongly supports paraphyly of Palaephatidae. We decline to change the classification, however, because of strong morphological evidence supporting palaephatid monophyly. (viii) We review the life histories and larval feeding habits of all nonditrysian families and assess the implications of our results for hypotheses about early lepidopteran phytophagy. The first host record for Neopseustidae, which needs confirmation, suggests that larvae of this family may be parasitoids. (Less)

The genus Copidosoma (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae) is a diverse group of polyembryonic parasitoids of Lepidoptera, including species that have the potential to control agricultural and forestry pests. Moreover, some species of Copidosoma display polyembryony. Despite their economic and scientific importance, little is known about the phylogeny of Copidosoma and its relations to other groups of Encyrtidae. Here we infer the phylogenetic relationships of this genus from nucleotide sequences of two nuclear (18S and 28S) and one mitochondrial (COI) genes. Forty-four species of Copidosoma and three species of Copidosomopsis plus two outgroup species are included in Maximum Parsimony and Bayesian analyses. Copidosomopsis syn. n. is proposed as a junior synonym of Copidosoma based on phylogenetic analysis results. Each of nine identical clades, resulting from both analyses, is proposed as informal species group: cervius group (cervius, chalconotum and serricorne), recovered as the basal lineage of Copidosoma; nacoleiae group (nacoleaie, meridionalis and an undescribed species, formerly belonging to the genus Copidosomopsis); boucheanum group (boucheanum, terebrator, peticus, phaloniae, ancharus, tibiale and sosares); noyesi group (noyesi and probably undescribed related species); albipes group (albipes and coimbatorense); varicorne group (including varicorne and subalbicorne in one subclade, and aretas and fuscisquama in the other); thebe group (thebe and probably undescribed related species); exiguum group (exiguum and probably undescribed related species); floridanum group (floridanum, primulum, transversum, truncatellum and agrotis). Host associations of the genus and host specificity of recognized groups are discussed. The current work offers a foundation for a comprehensive phylogeny of Copidosoma and the possibility to reconstruct cophylogeny between Copidosoma and their lepidopteran hosts.

Photonic crystal type nanoarchitectures have an important advantage over conventional displays: they do not fade under solar illumination; on the contrary, more intense illumination generates more intense color. We present a simple method based on cooling in ambient air - to observe the color change of several butterfly wings colored by various photonic nanoarchitectures. The color change can be attributed to the condensation of atmospheric humidity in the nanocavities of the photonic nanoarchitecture. The effects were investigated by controlled cooling combined with the in-situ measurement of the changes in the reflectivity spectra. For certain species the reflectivity maximum (color) has almost completely disappeared. A correlation was also found between the openness of the nanostructure and the time of the color change. Cooling experiments, using thin copper wires showed that color alteration could be limited to millimeters; this may offer a possible alternative for display technology.

Pyraloidea, one of the largest superfamilies of Lepidoptera, comprise more than 15 684 described species worldwide, including important pests, biological control agents and experimental models. Understanding of pyraloid phylogeny, the basis for a predictive classification, is currently provisional. We present the most detailed molecular estimate of relationships to date across the subfamilies of Pyraloidea, and assess its concordance with previous morphology-based hypotheses. We sequenced up to five nuclear genes, totalling 6633 bp, in each of 42 pyraloids spanning both families and 18 of the 21 subfamilies, plus up to 14 additional genes, for a total of 14 826 bp, in 21 of those pyraloids plus all 24 outgroups. Maximum likelihood analyses yield trees that, within Pyraloidea, differ little among datasets and character treatments and are strongly supported at all levels of divergence (83% of nodes with bootstrap ≥80%). Subfamily relationships within Pyralidae, all very strongly supported (>90% bootstrap), differ only slightly from a previous morphological analysis, and can be summarized as Galleriinae + Chrysauginae (Phycitinae (Pyralinae + Epipaschiinae)). The main remaining uncertainty involves Chrysauginae, of which the poorly studied Australian genera may constitute the basal elements of Galleriinae + Chrysauginae or even of Pyralidae. In Crambidae the molecular phylogeny is also strongly supported, but conflicts with most previous hypotheses. Among the newly proposed groupings are a ‘wet-habitat clade’ comprising Acentropinae + Schoenobiinae + Midilinae, and a provisional ‘mustard oil clade’ containing Glaphyriinae, Evergestinae and Noordinae, in which the majority of described larvae feed on Brassicales. Within this clade a previous synonymy of Dichogaminae with the Glaphyriinae is supported. Evergestinae syn. n. and Noordinae syn. n. are here newly synonymized with Glaphyriinae, which appear to be paraphyletic with respect to both. Pyraustinae and Spilomelinae as sampled here are each monophyletic but form a sister group pair. Wurthiinae n. syn., comprising the single genus Niphopyralis Hampson, which lives in ant nests, are closely related to, apparently subordinate within, and here newly synonymized with, Spilomelinae syn. n.

Agehana maraho (Shiraki and Sonan, 1934) is a near-threatened swallowtail butterfly endemic to Taiwan. As a first step in evaluating the most variable molecular markers for further population genetic and conservation studies of this and other insects, the entire mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) was sequenced (16,094bp). The most distinctive structure of the Agehana mitogenome is the control region (CR; 1,270bp). This is the longest CR found so far in any lepidopteran, and it also represents the first known case of two units of macro repeats within a tandem region. In a comparison with another 12 lepidopteran mitogenomes, the genes atp8, atp6, and nad6 were found to be more variable than cox1, suggesting an undue focus on cox1 (COI) in identification and phylogeographic studies. A combination of these first three genes plus the CR, comprising micro as well as macro repeats, may thus provide more suitable markers for conservation genetic studies, not only of this near-threatened species, but also...

Foreign plants are usually introduced for food or aesthetic reasons. Most of these plants are non-invasive, but can alter the evolutionary trajectory of the associated native insects or inadvertently spread potential pests. A hitherto poorly documented example is the rapid expansion of Chilades pandava, a Cycas-feeding butterfly. Since about 1990, large numbers of the Sago Palm Cycas revoluta were introduced into Taiwan. Invading or introduced with this hostplant, Ch. pandava has rapidly spread to all major parts of Taiwan. To trace the source of outbreaks, we sampled 810 specimens covering 50 Taiwanese localities and other regions using mitochondrial COII sequences. Overall haplotype diversity was high (h = 0.791), but only 29 haplotypes were found. The haplotype C which dominates outbreak populations from western Taiwan was endemic to the island. This is consistent with the hypothesis of a local range expansion of Ch. pandava, rather than an introduction. In addition, the Taiwanese Central Mountain Ridge may constitute a primary biogeographic barrier restricting gene flow between eastern and western populations. Our study not only flags an important new invasive insect that needs to be monitored and controlled within the horticultural trade and for in situ cycad conservation, but also provides a clearly documented case of the transformation of a native tropical butterfly into a pest via introduced horticultural plants.

The antennae of Lepidoptera Neopseustidae were examined with the scanning electron microscope. The studied species, Nematocentropus cfr. omeiensis, Neopseustis meyricki, Synempora andesae, Apoplania valdiviana and Apoplania penai possess nine types of antennal flagellum sensilla: multiporous large sensilla basiconica, multiporous thin sensilla basiconica, multiporous small sensilla basiconica, multiporous sensilla trichodea, multiporous sensilla coeloconica; uniporous sensilla chaetica; aporous sensilla chaetica, aporous stylus-shaped sensilla chaetica, aporous sensilla styloconica. The multiporous sensillum type here termed “multiporous large sensillum basiconicum” is unknown from other Lepidoptera and probably constitutes an autapomorphy of the family Neopseustidae. This sensillum type is remarkable by having a single base in female Apoplania and Synempora while in male Apoplania it has a bifid or trifid base, and in male Synempora it is composed of two or three incompletely separated hairs. This may be the first recorded example of a sexually dimorphic lepidopteran sensillum type. The stylus-shaped sensillum chaeticum is a primitive type which occurs only in some lower Lepidoptera.

Zygaenid moths are capable of releasing hydrogen cyanide in their defense by enzymatic break-down of cyanoglucosides, but only larvae of chalcosiine and zygaenine moths store cyanogenic compounds in cuticular cavities and thus are able to discharge defense droplets, which effectively deter potential predators. A previously proposed phylogeny of Zygaenidae hypothesized a sister group relationship of chalcosiine and zygaenine moths because of their similar larval defense system. Not all chalcosiine taxa possess cuticular cavities, however, and a comparable defense mechanism has been reported in larvae of the zygaenoid family Heterogynidae. Considering sequence data of seven molecular loci, the present study estimates the posterior probability of phylogenetic hypotheses explaining the occurrence of larval cuticular cavities. The molecular data confirm the previous exclusion of Himantopteridae from Zygaenidae and suggest their close affinity to Somabrachyidae. The sequence data also corroborate the recently proposed exclusion of the Phaudinae from the Zygaenidae, because this subfamily is recovered in a reasonably well supported species cluster consisting of members of the families Lacturidae, Limacodidae, Himantopteridae, and Somabrachyidae. We consequently agree to raise Phaudinae to family rank. Within Zygaenidae, the subfamilies Callizygaeninae, Chalcosiinae, and Procridinae most likely constitute a monophyletic group, which is sister to the Zygaeninae. Our results imply that cuticular cavities were probably present in the larvae of the most recent common ancestor of Zygaenidae. Heterogynidae cannot be confirmed as sister taxon to this family, but appear at the very first split of the Zygaenoidea, although with poor support. The specific pattern of taxa in the molecular phylogeny showing larval cuticular cavities opens the possibility that these structures could have been already present in the most recent common ancestor of the Zygaenoidea.

Siamusotima aranea Solis & Yen, is a new stem-boring musotimine species from Thailand. It was discovered in the stems of Lygodium flexuosum (L.) Sw. (Schizaeaceae) during exploration for biological control agents of Lygodium microphyllum (Cav.) R. Br., the Old World climbing fern. This is the first report in the Pyraloidea of a stem-boring larva with unique modifications of the anal segment resembling that of tenebrionid beetle immatures and with observations of possible mimicry between the adult moth and spiders.

The chalcosiine zygaenid moths constitute one of the most striking groups within the lower-ditrysian Lepidoptera, with highly diverse mimetic patterns, chemical defence systems, scent organs, copulatory mechanisms, hostplant utilization and diapause biology, plus a very disjunctive biogeographical pattern. In this paper we focus on the genus-level phylogenetics of this subfamily. A cladistic study was performed using 414 morphological and biochemical characters obtained from 411 species belonging to 186 species-groups of 73 genera plus 21 outgroups. Phylogenetic analysis using maximum parsimony leads to the following conclusions: (1) neither the current concept of Zygaenidae nor that of Chalcosiinae is monophyletic; (2) the previously proposed sister-group relationship of Zygaeninae + Chalcosiinae is rejected in favour of the relationship (Zygaeninae + ((Callizygaeninae +Cleoda) + (Heteropan+ Chalcosiinae))); (3) except for the monobasic Aglaopini, none of the tribes sensuAlberti (1954) is monophyletic; (4) chalcosiine synapomorphies include structures of the chemical defence system, scent organs of adults and of the apodemal system of the male genitalia. A paired metathoracic androconial organ and a series of abdominal tergal corematal organs have been discovered, both being new to Lepidoptera. Due to highly homoplastic patterns in copulatory structures and wings that demonstrate significant sexual dimorphism, polymorphism and mimicry, 17 of the 69 ‘true’ chalcosiine genera (c. 25%) are shown to be either paraphyletic or polyphyletic. The present classification is therefore very misleading. Reductions of various parts of the male genitalia in some groups are accompanied by morphological and functional replacement involving the 8th abdominal segment. A prominent but convergent lock and key mechanism is revealed. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 143, 161–341.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the phylogeny, systematics and evolution of the mimetic wing patterns of Eterusia, a day-flying moth genus that exhibits great morphological diversity, as well as the highest insular differentiation in eastern Asia and which has the most chaotic taxonomic history in the family Zygaenidae. We examined the wing patterns of the insects involved using visible and ultraviolet light (both reflectance and fluorescence). The phylogeny of thirty-four taxa, including all the recognized species of Eterusia plus two species of Soritia as outgroups, was reconstructed based on eighty adult morphological characters, including forty-one derived from colour patterns. Phylogenetic relationships based on the whole dataset revealed that (1) the most current concept of Eterusia is monophyletic, and (2) different types of mimetic pattern show different levels of phylogenetic conservation. To investigate the evolution of their colour patterns we inactivated all the relevant characters and reconstructed another phylogeny, which was found to differ significantly from the one based on the whole character set in the position of the E. risa species group. We used these phylogenetic hypotheses to test evolutionary predictions based on conventional Mullerian mimicry and quasi-Batesian mimicry dynamics. The results of permutation–tail–probability tests showed that the coloration characters are phylogenetically conserved, thus justifying a Mullerian interpretation. However, when comparing the observed topologies with hypothetical trees constrained to fit perfect Mullerian or quasi-Batesian scenarios using the Kishino–Hasegawa test, the observed phylogenies were more consistent with the phylogenetic prediction of quasi-Batesian mimicry. Therefore, we consider that applying these two phylogenetic methods to justify mimicry models may not always be practical. Finally, the taxonomy of Eterusia is revised. In total, two new species (E. austrochinensis, E. guanxiana), one new subspecies (E. risa palawanica) and four new synonyms (E. lativitta and E. fasciata of E. sublutea, E. coelestina of E. subcyanea, E. angustipennis gaedei of E. angustipennis angustipennis) are established.

Within the genus Howarthia, Howarthia melli (Forster) is the most frequently reported species across the southern provinces of China. An examination of the type series of H. melli ,i n combination with results of rearingexperiments, reveals that three species have been frequently confused under the name H. melli. The three are superÞcially similar but not closely related to each other within the genus. H. melli is much more restricted in distribution than previously thought, with most literature records referringto the other two species, Howarthia cheni Chou & Wangand an undescribed species, Howarthia cyanea sp. n., described herein. We provide a discussion of the relationships of these species and a review of Rhododendron-association in Lycaenidae.

During the search for natural enemies of Old World climbing fern, Lygodium microphyllum (Cav.) R. Br. (Schizaeaceae), in Australia and southeastern Asia, Cataclysta camptozonale (Hampson) was found to be highly specific to this aggressive vine and was tested as a biological control agent. This musotimine moth species has long been misplaced in a European acentropine genus; therefore, we propose Austromusotima, new genus, to accommodate Austromusotima camptozonale, new combination, as the type species. The syntype series of Oligostima camptozonale is a mixture of specimens of the former species (sensu stricto) and its sibling, Austromusotima metastictalis (Hampson), new combination. A lectotype is designated for A. camptozonale to stabilize the use of the name. The immature stages of A. camptozonale are described and compared with other known musotimine immatures. The immatures of Eugauria albidenta (Hampson) and Cataclysta angulata Moore are illustrated for the first time. Austromusotima is most closely related to Cataclysta seriopunctalis Hampson based on adult morphological characters, but immatures of C. seriopunctalis are unknown, and therefore, this species is not included in Austromusotima. The important, yet incongruent, results between immature and adult characters are discussed in the context of phylogenetic relationships of Austromusotima to other taxa.

Lygomusotima Solis & Yen, new genus, and two new species, stria and constricta, are described from Australia and southeastern Asia. L. stria was discovered feeding on Lygodium microphyllum (Cav.) R. Br. (Schizaeaceae) during exploration for biological control agents. Its immatures and biology are described. The new genus is compared with Neomusotima conspurcatalis (Warren), new combination, another species that was discovered feeding on L. microphyllum. N. conspurcatalis is redescribed, and its immatures and biology are described for the first time. Musotima fuscalis Snellen is designated as a new synonym of N. conspurcatalis.

The parasitic wasp genus Conspinaria is recorded as parasitizing two species of chalcosiine zygaenid moths, Chalcosia thaivana owadai Wang and Erasmia pulchella hobsoni Butler in Taiwan. Parasitism of Zygaenidae and of Limacodidae by rogadine braconids is discussed in the light of possible phylogenetic relationships.

The Epicopeiidae is a small geometroid family distributed in the East Palaearctic and Oriental regions. It exhibits high morphological diversity in body size and wing shape, while their wing patterns involve in various complex mimicry rings. In the present study, we attempted to describe a new genus, and a new species from Vietnam, with comments on two assumed congeneric novel species from China and India. To address its phylogenetic affinity, we reconstructed the phylogeny of the family by using sequence data of COI, EF-1α, and 28S gene regions obtained from seven genera of Epicopeiidae with Pseudobiston pinratanai as the outgroup. We also compared the morphology of the new taxon to other epicopeiid genera to affirm its taxonomic status. The results suggest that the undescribed taxon deserve a new genus, namely Mimaporia gen. n. The species from Vietnam, Mimaporia hmong sp. n., is described as new to science. Under different tree building strategies, the new genus is the sister group of either Chatamla Moore, 1881 or Parabraxas Leech, 1897. The morphological evidence, which was not included in phylogenetic analyses, however, suggests its potential affinity with Burmeia Minet, 2003. This study also provides the first, although preliminary, molecular phylogeny of the family on which the revised systematics and interpretation of character evolution can be based.

The external morphology of last instar larvae of Phauda mimica Strand, 1915, from Taiwan is described. The slug-like larvae are glossy brownish white in coloration. Dorsally they are covered by a tergal cap consisting of a dense mesh of irregularly interwoven silk fibres with additional cellular elements and hardened incrustations. This peculiar structure is not known from other Lepidoptera. According to the present morphological findings, the genus (along with allied genera) does probably not belong to the Zygaenidae, as hitherto suggested, but rather represents the sister group of the limacodid-group families currently comprising the (Megalopygidae/Somabrachyidae + (Aididae + (Dalceridae + Limacodidae))).

The genus Cidariplura Butler, 1879 from Taiwan is reviewed. A total of seven species are confirmed to occur in this old landbridge island, and four new species are described: C. shanmeii WuOwada sp. nov., C. maraho WuOwada sp. nov., C. atayal WuOwada sp. nov. and C. ilana WuOwada sp. nov. The Taiwanese C. bilineata (WilemanSouth, 1919) is superficially similar to the Indian and Nepalese C. brevivittalis (Moore, 1867) but their genitalia show distinct differences. Elyra albifascia Hampson 1929 is regarded as a junior synonym of C. brevivittalis (syn. nov.). All diagnostic characteristics of Cidariplura from Taiwan and its adjacent areas are illustrated.

The effects produced by the condensation of water vapor from the environment in the various intricate nanoarchitectures occurring in the wing scales of several Lepidoptera species were investigated by controlled cooling (from 23° C, room temperature to -5 to -10° C) combined with in situ measurements of changes in the reflectance spectra. It was determined that all photonic nanoarchitectures giving a reflectance maximum in the visible range and having an open nanostructure exhibited alteration of the position of the reflectance maximum associated with the photonic nanoarchitectures. The photonic nanoarchitectures with a closed structure exhibited little to no alteration in color. Similarly, control specimens colored by pigments did not exhibit a color change under the same conditions. Hence, this method can be used to identify species with open photonic nanoarchitectures in their scales. For certain species, an almost complete disappearance of the reflectance maximum was found. All specimens recovered their original colors following warming and drying. Cooling experiments using thin copper wires demonstrated that color alterations could be limited to a width of a millimeter or less. Dried museum specimens did not exhibit color changes when cooled in the absence of a heat sink due to the low heat capacity of the wings.

International audience; Ten polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed for Graellsia isabelae. Polymorphism was assessed for 20 individuals from a Spanish population (Els-Ports-de-Beseit, Catalonia) and 39 more individuals from one population in the French Alps and six other Spanish localities. Overall, the number of alleles per locus ranged from 5 to 24. Els-Ports-de-Beseit showed an average number of alleles per locus of 9.80 (SD = 4.32), observed heterozygosity was 0.71 (SD = 0.226), and expected heterozygosity was 0.788 (SD = 0.146). Genotypic frequencies conformed to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium at the Catalonian population, and no evidence for linkage disequilibrium was observed. Multilocus genotypes resulting from this set of markers will be useful to determine genetic diversity and differentiation within and among populations of this highly protected moth. Several loci amplified and resulted polymorphic in two related species: two loci in Actias neidhoeferi, and three loci in A. luna.

BackgroundIn the mega-diverse insect order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths; 165,000 described species), deeper relationships are little understood within the clade Ditrysia, to which 98% of the species belong. To begin addressing this problem, we tested the ability of five protein-coding nuclear genes (6.7 kb total), and character subsets therein, to resolve relationships among 123 species representing 27 (of 33) superfamilies and 55 (of 100) families of Ditrysia under maximum likelihood analysis.ResultsOur trees show broad concordance with previous morphological hypotheses of ditrysian phylogeny, although most relationships among superfamilies are weakly supported. There are also notable surprises, such as a consistently closer relationship of Pyraloidea than of butterflies to most Macrolepidoptera. Monophyly is significantly rejected by one or more character sets for the putative clades Macrolepidoptera as currently defined (P< 0.05) and Macrolepidoptera excluding Noctuoidea and Bombycoidea sensu lato (P≤ 0.005), and nearly so for the superfamily Drepanoidea as currently defined (P< 0.08). Superfamilies are typically recovered or nearly so, but usually without strong support. Relationships within superfamilies and families, however, are often robustly resolved. We provide some of the first strong molecular evidence on deeper splits within Pyraloidea, Tortricoidea, Geometroidea, Noctuoidea and others.Separate analyses of mostly synonymous versus non-synonymous character sets revealed notable differences (though not strong conflict), including a marked influence of compositional heterogeneity on apparent signal in the third codon position (nt3). As available model partitioning methods cannot correct for this variation, we assessed overall phylogeny resolution through separate examination of trees from each character set. Exploration of "tree space" with GARLI, using grid computing, showed that hundreds of searches are typically needed to find the best-feasible phylogeny estimate for these data.ConclusionOur results (a) corroborate the broad outlines of the current working phylogenetic hypothesis for Ditrysia, (b) demonstrate that some prominent features of that hypothesis, including the position of the butterflies, need revision, and (c) resolve the majority of family and subfamily relationships within superfamilies as thus far sampled. Much further gene and taxon sampling will be needed, however, to strongly resolve individual deeper nodes.

Large blue (Maculinea) butterflies are highly endangered throughout the Palaearctic region, and have been the focus of intense conservation research. In addition, their extraordinary parasitic lifestyles make them ideal for studies of life history evolution. Early instars consume flower buds of specific host plants, but later instars live in ant nests where they either devour the brood (predators), or are fed mouth-to-mouth by the adult ants (cuckoos). Here we present the phylogeny for the group, which shows that it is a monophyletic clade nested within Phengaris, a rare Oriental genus whose species have similar life histories. Cuckoo species are likely to have evolved from predatory ancestors. As early as five million years ago, two Maculinea clades diverged, leading to the different parasitic strategies seen in the genus today. Contrary to current belief, the two recognized cuckoo species show little genetic divergence and are probably a single ecologically differentiated species. On the other hand, some of the predatory morphospecies exhibit considerable genetic divergence and may contain cryptic species. These findings have important implications for conservation and reintroduction efforts.

Quicke, Donald, Yen, Shen-Horn, Mori, Miharu, Shaw, Mark (2004): First host records for the rogadine genus Conspinaria (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), and notes on Rogadinae as parasitoids of Zygaenidae (Lepidoptera). Journal of Natural History 38 (11): 1437-1442, DOI: 10.1080/0022293031000155278, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0022293031000155278

The genus Cidariplura Butler, 1879 from Taiwan is reviewed. A total of seven species are confirmed to occur in this old landbridge island, and four new species are described: C. shanmeii Wu & Owada sp. nov., C. maraho Wu & Owada sp. nov., C. atayal Wu & Owada sp. nov. and C. ilana Wu & Owada sp. nov. The Taiwanese C. bilineata (Wileman & South, 1919) is superficially similar to the Indian and Nepalese C. brevivittalis (Moore, 1867) but their genitalia show distinct differences. Elyra albifascia Hampson 1929 is regarded as a junior synonym of C. brevivittalis (syn. nov.). All diagnostic characteristics of Cidariplura from Taiwan and its adjacent areas are illustrated.

Yen Shen-horn, Minet Joël. About recent works dealing with the Gold Moths (Lep., Cimeliidae). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 112 (3), septembre 2007. p. 298.