Large‐scale genomic data reveal the phylogeny and evolution of owlet moths (Noctuoidea)

Abstract

The owlet moths (Noctuoidea; ~43–45K described species) are one of the most ecologically diverse and speciose superfamilies of animals. Moreover, they comprise some of the world's most notorious pests of agriculture and forestry. Despite their contributions to terrestrial biodiversity and impacts on ecosystems and economies, the evolutionary history of Noctuoidea remains unclear because the superfamily lacks a statistically robust phylogenetic and temporal framework. We reconstructed the phylogeny of Noctuoidea using data from 1234 genes (946.4 kb nucleotides) obtained from the genome and transcriptome sequences of 76 species. The relationships among the six families of Noctuoidea were well resolved and consistently recovered based on both concatenation and gene coalescence approaches, supporting the following relationships: Oenosandridae + (Notodontidae + (Erebidae + (Nolidae + (Euteliidae + Noctuidae)))). A Yule tree prior with three unlinked molecular clocks was identified as the preferred BEAST analysis using marginal‐likelihood estimations. The crown age of Noctuoidea was estimated at 74.5 Ma, with most families originating before the end of the Paleogene (23 Ma). Our study provides the first statistically robust phylogenetic and temporal framework for Noctuoidea, including all families of owlet moths, based on large‐scale genomic data.

Hiding in plain sight: Phylogenomics reveals a new branch on the Noctuoidea tree of life

“…Molecular phylogenetic data have resolved many relationships within Lepidoptera (Breinholt et al, 2018;Hamilton et al, 2019;Homziak et al, 2019;Rota et al, 2022;St Laurent et al, 2020. Revision of Noctuoidea relationships was initiated in the past decades on the basis of molecular phylogenetics (Keegan et al, 2021;Li et al, 2023;Mitchell et al, 2006;Weller et al, 1994;Zahiri et al, 2011Zahiri et al, , 2012Zahiri et al, , 2013Zahiri et al, , 2023. We have not yet arrived at a stable resolution for Noctuoidea nor do we attempt it here, given our sampling focus on Noto- forces reconsideration of the transformation of these traits, an exercise that impacts our understanding of Noctuoidea and Lepidoptera evolution more broadly.…”

“…The sister grouping of quadrifids and Notodontidae is here deemed appropriate since it appears in most of our results, and previous molecular and morphological research has congealed around this relationship (Kawahara et al, 2019;Li et al, 2023;Miller, 1991;Regier et al, 2017;Zahiri et al, 2011).…”

“…Given the multiple topologies of Noctuoidea obtained in previous studies (Kawahara et al, 2019;Keegan et al, 2021;Li et al, 2023;Mutanen et al, 2010;Regier et al, 2017;Zahiri et al, 2011) and in the present work (see the Results section, Figure 2), we examined concordance among sites, genes, species trees and gene trees and employed several topology tests to explore whether there is a basis for preferring one topology for downstream analyses.…”

“…Sequences were either previously published (Kawahara et al, 2019;Li et al, 2023;St Laurent et al, 2023) Washington DC, (USNM). Scranciinae sampling includes taxa from across Africa and Asia, both genera originally used to define the Scranciini (Thacona (=Scrancia) and Gargetta Walker) and another putative scranciine genus, all from the USNM.…”

“…While the monophyly of the clade containing the four quadrifid families is supported by many recent molecular studies, our understanding of the trifid noctuoid families is less clear, in part, because these groups have received less attention in molecular phylogenetic studies (Dowdy et al, 2020;Homziak et al, 2019;Keegan et al, 2019Keegan et al, , 2021Li et al, 2023;Wang et al, 2015;Zahiri et al, 2013Zahiri et al, , 2023. Importantly, the monophyly of Notodontidae (4500+ species; Schintlmeister, 2013), the largest trifid family, has not been tested rigorously with phylogenomic data.…”