Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to have evolved with plants and dispersed throughout the world in response to key geological events. However, these hypotheses have not been extensively tested because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and datasets for butterfly larval hosts and global distributions are lacking. We sequenced 391 genes from nearly 2,300 butterfly species, sampled from 90 countries and 28 specimen collections, to reconstruct a new phylogenomic tree of butterflies representing 92% of all genera. Our phylogeny has strong support for nearly all nodes and demonstrates that at least 36 butterfly tribes require reclassification. Divergence time analyses imply an origin ~100 million years ago for butterflies and indicate that all but one family were present before the K/Pg extinction event. We aggregated larval host datasets and global distribution records and found that butterflies are likely to have first fed on Fabaceae and originated in what is now the Americas. Soon after the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum, butterflies crossed Beringia and diversified in the Palaeotropics. Our results also reveal that most butterfly species are specialists that feed on only one larval host plant family. However, generalist butterflies that consume two or more plant families usually feed on closely related plants.

Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to have diversified via coevolution with plants and in response to dispersals following key geological events. These hypotheses have been poorly tested at the macroevolutionary scale because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and datasets on global distributions and larval hosts of butterflies are lacking. We sequenced 391 genes from nearly 2,000 butterfly species to construct a new, phylogenomic tree of butterflies representing 92% of all genera and aggregated global distribution records and larval host datasets. We found that butterflies likely originated in what is now the Americas, ~100 Ma, shortly before the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum, then crossed Beringia and diversified in the Paleotropics. The ancestor of modern butterflies likely fed on Fabaceae, and most extant families were present before the K/Pg extinction. The majority of butterfly dispersals occurred from the tropics (especially the Neotropics) to temperate zones, largely supporting a "cradle" pattern of diversification. Surprisingly, host breadth changes and shifts to novel host plants had only modest impacts.

Here, we present the largest, global dataset of Lepidopteran traits, focusing initially on butterflies (ca. 12,500 species records). These traits are derived from field guides, taxonomic treatments, and other literature resources. We present traits on wing size, phenology,voltinism, diapause/overwintering stage, hostplant associations, and habitat affinities (canopy, edge, moisture, and disturbance). This dataset will facilitate comparative research on butterfly ecology and evolution and our goal is to inspire future research collaboration and the continued development of this dataset.

Elevation is an important determinant of ecological community composition. It integrates several abiotic features and leads to strong, repeatable patterns of community structure, including changes in the abundance and richness of numerous taxa. However, the influence of elevational gradients on microbes is understudied relative to plants and animals. To compare the influence of elevation on multiple taxa simultaneously, we sampled phytotelm communities within a tropical pitcher plant (Nepenthes mindanaoensis) along a gradient from 400 to 1200 m a.s.l. We use a combination of metabarcoding and physical counts to assess diversity and richness of bacteria, micro-eukaryotes, and arthropods, and compare the effect of elevation on community structure to that of regulation by a number of plant factors. Patterns of community structure differed between bacteria and eukaryotes, despite their living together in the same aquatic microhabitats. Elevation influences community composition of eukaryotes to a significantly greater degree than it does bacteria. When examining pitcher characteristics, pitcher dimorphism has an effect on eukaryotes but not bacteria, while variation in pH levels strongly influences both taxa. Consistent with previous ecological studies, arthropod abundance in phytotelmata decreases with elevation, but some patterns of abundance differ between living inquilines and prey.

Recent exploration on the mountains of Northern Mindanao, Philippines resulted in the recollection of Etlingera pubimarginata, an enigmatic endemic species recollected after a lapse of over a century. An amended taxonomic description with colour photographs as well as comparative morphology to its allied species, geographical distribution, and conservation status are provided.

Recent fieldwork in Zamboanga del Norte resulted in the recollection of the poorly known aquatic aroid, Cryptocoryne pygmaea. In this study, we have clarified the identity of C. pygmaea as well as provided a detailed morphological description based on our recently collected material, updated its geographical distribution information, ecology, phenology, and a proposed conservation status. Through this recollection, it was revealed that plants previously identified as C. pygmaea in Palawan and Busuanga are different, thus we describe them here as C. palawanensis, a species new to science and the eighth representative of the genus for the Philippine archipelago.

A subspecies new to science, Begonia bangsamoro subsp. bagasa Naive (section Petermannia) discovered in Zamboanga del Sur, Western Mindanao, Philippines is herewith described and illustrated. The new subspecies differs significantly from the type subspecies in having staminate and pistillate flowers with very narrow tepals. A colour plate, notes on its distribution, habitat, phenology, proposed conservation assessment based on IUCN criteria as well as a checklist of Begonia species present in Zamboanga Peninsula are provided. With this discovery, Zamboanga Peninsula now holds a total of 17 Begonia taxa, and the very first subspecies described for the Philippine archipelago.

Amorphophallus wasa Naive, K.Z.Hein & Hett., is described and illustrated as a species new to science from the Sagaing Region, Myanmar. It is morphologically similar to A. saraburiensis Gagnep., but can be easily distinguished by its unilocular ovaries and lack of staminodes between pistillate and staminate zones. A detailed description, colour plates, phenology, distribution map, provisional conservation status and a key to the Amorphophallus species from Myanmar are provided. In addition, A. elatus Hook.f. is reported as a newly recorded species for Myanmar, and the name A. corrugatus N.E.Br. is newly synonymized under A. kachinensis Engl. & Gehrm.