Taxonomic status and molecular phylogeography of two sibling species of Polytremis (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae)

Abstract

The skipper Polytremis theca species complex is widely distributed in the south of the Qinling Mountains in China. A recent study of the Polytremis genus suggested that this species might encompass two differentiated lineages. We tested this hypothesis, by carrying out a phylogenetic study of this agricultural pest based on nationwide sampling and the evaluation of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers. We show that this species is actually an amalgamation of two sibling taxa (P. t. theca and P. t. fukia), which displayed levels of genetic divergence as great as those generally found between sister species in the Polytremis genus, suggesting that they actually correspond to two distinct species. The Divergence time estimates suggest that an active period of speciation within Polytremis occurred within the Pleistocene eras. Based on its distinct phylogenetic placement and geographical isolation, we suggest that the subspecies should be elevated to full species status under the phylogenetic species concept, which has significant management implications.

Systematics of the genus Zinaida Evans, 1937 (Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae: Baorini)

“…fukia , having been treated as subspecies of P . theca (Evans, 1949) previously [ 15 ], have a narrow geographical overlap in central Sichuan, China [ 4 ]. Z .…”

“…On the other hand, Zenonoida nested with Zenonia and Zinaida , and Zenonia + Zenonoida as sister to Zinaida , whereas Jiang et al . [ 4 ] preserved the monophyly of Polytremis . Of the 12 species Fan et al .…”

Phylogeography of Dendrolimus punctatus (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae): Population differentiation and last glacial maximum survival

“…During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) period, the climate of this region became much cooler and dryer, which drove the southward migration of the warm‐temperate evergreen forests as far as c.24°N (Harrison, Yu, Takahara, & Prentice, ; Qiu et al, ). Moreover, the vast continental hilly areas in the subtropical China provided potential refugia for temperate deciduous forests and boreal conifer trees (Jiang et al, ; Lei et al, ).…”

Molecular Phylogeny and Historical Biogeography of the Butterfly Tribe Aeromachini Tutt (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) from China

“…Huang [10] constructed a phylogenetic relationship with 24 genera and 31 species of Hesperiidae based on 155 morphological characters in both external features and male genitalia, and defined the genera and species in the tribe Aeromachini in China. Despite this, due to the similar appearance and lack of effective and homologous morphological traits in most species of the family Hesperiidae [5,6,14,15,16], there are challenges in the traditional classification system and phylogenetic relationships based on morphological classification can be unclear. An example is the phylogenetic positions of Aeromachus and Arnetta , are uncertain in the study of Huang [10], because both these genera are not included in any group with robust support.…”