Systematics and integrative taxonomic revision of the tribe Scopulini Duponchel, 1845 in Iran (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Sterrhinae)

The Iranian taxa of the tribe Scopulini are taxonomically revised. The systematic positions of the genera Cinglis Guene, 1858, Glossotrophia Prout, 1913, Pseudocinglis Hausmann, 1994 and Scopuloides Hausmann, 1994, with uncertain validity and/or position within the tribe Scopulini Duponchel, 1845 (Lepidoptera: Sterrhinae), are further elucidated by use of one mitochondrial and up to nine protein-coding nuclear gene regions. Available type specimens of the described species and more than 2,600 additional specimens were morphologically investigated. In addition, over 400 genitalia preparations were made and examined together with distribution data and DNA barcodes. As a result of the multi-gene analysis, the genera Cinglis stat. rev. and Scopuloides stat. rev. are re-validated at the genus level. The genus Pseudocinglis syn. nov. is regarded as a junior synonym of the genus Cinglis stat. rev. and Glossotrophia syn. nov. is regarded as a junior synonym of the genus Scopula. Cinglis eurata (Prout, 1913) comb. nov. and Cinglis benigna (Brandt, 1941) comb. nov. are combined with the genus Cinglis. Additionally, Cinglis benigna amseli (Wiltshire, 1967) syn. nov. is regarded as a synonym of C. benigna. Scopula adulteraria (Erschov, 1874) stat. nov. is raised from subspecies to species rank; Scopula iranaria Bytinski-Salz & Brandt, 1937 syn. nov. is synonymized with S. flaccidaria (Zeller, 1852); S. transcaspica taftanica Brandt, 1941 syn. nov. is synonymized with S. transcaspica Prout, 1935; S. diffinaria asiatica (Brandt, 1938) syn. nov. is synonymized with S. diffinaria (Prout, 1913) and Glossotrophia bullata Vojnits, 1986 syn. nov. is synonymized with Scopula sacraria ariana (Ebert, 1965). The female genitalia of Scopula lactarioides Brandt, 1941 are described and illustrated for the first time. In total, the presence of 33 species of Scopulini in Iran is confirmed. Wing patterns, male and female genitalia and diagnostic characters of most Iranian Scopulini species are depicted and their distribution ranges are mapped.

Integrative taxonomic revision of the African taxa of the Racotis Moore, 1887 generic complex (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae, Boarmiini)

The Afrotropical taxa of the Racotis s.l. generic complex are revised utilising integrative taxonomical methods. Based on the evaluation of genital morphology and analyses of DNA barcodes, a new genus, Afroracotis gen. n. is established to include the Afrotropical "Racotis" species. The new genus is subdivided into 5 subgenera: Afroracotis subgen. n., Herbuloracotis subgen. n., Rwandaracotis subgen. n., Zebracotis subgen. n. and Sokokeracotis subgen. n.. A new monotypic genus is described to include Boarmia ugandaria Swinhoe, 1904 which was combined earlier with the genus Chorodna and recently with Racotis: Chorocotis gen. n.. Two species formerly assigned to Cleora are moved to Afroracotis: A. albitrigonis (Prout, 1927) comb. n., A. atriclava (Prout, 1926) comb. n.. Two species are transferred from Racotis to Colocleora: C. breijeri (Prout, 1922) comb. n., C. incauta (Prout, 1916) comb. n.. Seventeen new Afroracotis species (A. aliena, A. stadiei, A. violetteae, A. fiebigi, A. turlini, A. dargei, A. longicornuta, A. aristophanousi, A. muscivirens, A. chaineyi, A. lydiae, A. smithi, A. ochsei, A. milesi, A. helicalis, A. takanoi and A. staudei spp. n.) and 5 new subspecies (A. squalida thomensis, A. argillacea morettoi, A. longicornuta congolana, A. longicornuta ugandana and A. lydiae orientalis sspp. n.) are described, totalling 27 species and 8 subspecies contained in the genus Afroracotis. Adults and genitalia of all taxa are illustrated in 210 colour and 129 black and white figures demonstrating the intraspecific variability. The distribution of all taxa is illustrated in 6 dot maps. The results of the genetic analyses are figured in four phylograms.

Tribal assignment of the genus Eumera Staudinger, 1892, using multi-gene analysis, with description of a new species from Iran (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae)

The geometrid moth genus Eumera Staudinger, 1892 consists of five yellow-orange-pinkish species distributed in the western Palearctic, with uncertain tribal classification within the geometrid subfamily Ennominae. In this study, we explored the phylogenetic position of the genus Eumera. Therefore, a concatenated dataset was analyzed, which includes one mitochondrial and up to ten protein-coding genetic markers per taxa. Moreover, we compared some external and internal morphological traits to other closely related genera. Our phylogenetic inference and comparative morphology suggested that Eumera should be included in the tribe Prosopolophini. In addition, a new species, Eumera rajaeii sp. nov. Wanke & Shirvani is described from southern Iran, and diagnosed by molecular data and morphological features. The distribution of the Iranian species is shown on a map. We illustrate external characters and male genitalia of three closely related Eumera species.

Taxonomy and ecology of genus Psyra Walker, 1860 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae) from Indian Himalaya

The Psyra Walker, 1860, is a typical Sino-Himalayan genus of the subfamily Ennominae, currently known by 18 species/4 subspecies globally and 9 species from India. This study aims to revise the taxonomy and ecology of Indian Psyra by providing a morphology-based diagnostic key, highlighting their altitudinal, habitat and seasonal preferences, and modelling their distribution based on current and future climatic scenarios. Here, we describe a new species, P. variabilis sp. nov. and document 4 species and 1 subspecies as new to India, viz. P. gracilis, P. szetschwana, P. dsagara, P. falcipennis and P. debilis debilis, thus updating the global species count to 19 with 14 species/1 subspecies from India. We also submitted partial mitochondrial COI sequences of P. crypta, P. similaria, P. spurcataria and P. gracilis as novel to the global genetic database and calculated the overall genetic divergence was 5.17% within the genus, suggesting strong monophyly. Being a typical montane genus, most of the species of Psyra were active within 2000-2280 m altitude, 10.55-15.7°C annual mean temperature, 1200-2300 mm annual precipitation and 168-179 NDVI. Psyra species were predominant in wet temperate, mixed coniferous and moist temperate deciduous forests, their abundance and richness being at peak during post-monsoon months of October-November. The major bioclimatic variables influencing the overall distribution of the genus were mean temperature of warmest quarter, temperature seasonality and precipitation of coldest/driest quarter. While two of the modelled species were predicted to lose area occupancy under future climatic scenarios, the narrow-specialist, Trans-Himalayan species P. debilis debilis was projected to gain up to 75% additional area in the years 2041-60. The results of this study will be helpful to identify sites with maximum area loss projection in ecologically fragile Indian Himalaya and initiating conservation management for such climatically vulnerable insect species groups.

Sympatric occurrence of deeply diverged mitochondrial DNA lineages in Siberian geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae): cryptic speciation, mitochondrial introgression, secondary admixture or effect of Wolbachia?

The divergent sympatric mitochondrial lineages within traditionally recognized species present a challenge regularly faced by taxonomists and evolutionary biologists. We encountered this problem when studying the Siberian geometrid moths, Alcis deversata and Thalera chlorosaria. Within each of these species we found two deeply diverged mitochondrial lineages that demonstrated a level of genetic differentiation exceeding the standard interspecific DNA barcode threshold. Using analyses of nuclear genes, morphology, ecological preferences and Wolbachia endosymbionts, we tested five hypotheses that might explain the mitochondrial pattern observed: cryptic speciation, ancestral polymorphism, interspecific mitochondrial introgression, secondary admixture of allopatrically evolved populations and an effect of intracellular Wolbachia endosymbionts. We demonstrate that in A. deversata and Th. chlorosaria the mitochondrial differences are not correlated with differences in nuclear genes, morphology, ecology and Wolbachia infection status, thus not supporting the hypothesis of cryptic species and an effect of Wolbachia. Mitochondrial introgression can lead to a situation in which one species has both its own mitochondrial lineage and the lineage obtained from another species. We found this situation in the species pair Alcis repandata and Alcis extinctaria. We conclude that the mitochondrial heterogeneity in A. deversata and Th. chlorosaria is most likely to be attributable to the secondary admixture of allopatrically evolved populations.

Molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography and diversification patterns of a diverse group of moths (Geometridae: Boarmiini)

Understanding how and why some groups have become more species-rich than others, and how past biogeography may have shaped their current distribution, are questions that evolutionary biologists have long attempted to answer. We investigated diversification patterns and historical biogeography of a hyperdiverse lineage of Lepidoptera, the geometrid moths, by studying its most species-rich tribe Boarmiini, which comprises ca. 200 genera and ca. known 3000 species. We inferred the evolutionary relationships of Boarmiini based on a dataset of 346 taxa, with up to eight genetic markers under a maximum likelihood approach. The monophyly of Boarmiini is strongly supported. However, the phylogenetic position of many taxa does not agree with current taxonomy, although the monophyly of most major genera within the tribe is supported after minor adjustments. Three genera are synonymized, one new combination is proposed, and four species are placed in incertae sedis within Boarmiini. Our results support the idea of a rapid initial diversification of Boarmiini, which also implies that no major taxonomic subdivisions of the group can currently be proposed. A time-calibrated tree and biogeographical analyses suggest that boarmiines appeared in Laurasia ca. 52 Mya, followed by dispersal events throughout the Australasian, African and Neotropical regions. Most of the transcontinental dispersal events occurred in the Eocene, a period of intense geological activity and rapid climate change. Diversification analyses showed a relatively constant diversification rate for all Boarmiini, except in one clade containing the species-rich genus Cleora. The present work represents a substantial contribution towards understanding the evolutionary origin of Boarmiini moths. Our results, inevitably biased by taxon sampling, highlight the difficulties with working on species-rich groups that have not received much attention outside of Europe. Specifically, poor knowledge of the natural history of geometrids (particularly in tropical clades) limits our ability to identify key innovations underlying the diversification of boarmiines.

A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Geometridae (Lepidoptera) with a focus on enigmatic small subfamilies

Our study aims to investigate the relationships of the major lineages within the moth family Geometridae, with a focus on the poorly studied Oenochrominae-Desmobathrinae complex, and to translate some of the results into a coherent subfamilial and tribal level classification for the family. We analyzed a molecular dataset of 1,206 Geometroidea terminal taxa from all biogeographical regions comprising up to 11 molecular markers that includes one mitochondrial (COI) and 10 protein-coding nuclear gene regions (wingless, ArgK, MDH, RpS5, GAPDH, IDH, Ca-ATPase, Nex9, EF-1alpha, CAD). The molecular data set was analyzed using maximum likelihood as implemented in IQ-TREE and RAxML. We found high support for the subfamilies Larentiinae, Geometrinae and Ennominae in their traditional scopes. Sterrhinae becomes monophyletic only if Ergavia Walker, Ametris Hübner and Macrotes Westwood, which are currently placed in Oenochrominae, are formally transferred to Sterrhinae. Desmobathrinae and Oenochrominae are found to be polyphyletic. The concepts of Oenochrominae and Desmobathrinae required major revision and, after appropriate rearrangements, these groups also form monophyletic subfamily-level entities. Oenochrominae s.str. as originally conceived by Guenée is phylogenetically distant from Epidesmia and its close relatives. The latter is hereby described as the subfamily Epidesmiinae Murillo-Ramos, Sihvonen & Brehm, subfam. nov. Epidesmiinae are a lineage of "slender-bodied Oenochrominae" that include the genera Ecphyas Turner, Systatica Turner, Adeixis Warren, Dichromodes Guenée, Phrixocomes Turner, Abraxaphantes Warren, Epidesmia Duncan & Westwood and Phrataria Walker. Archiearinae are monophyletic when Dirce and Acalyphes are formally transferred to Ennominae. We also found that many tribes were para- or polyphyletic and therefore propose tens of taxonomic changes at the tribe and subfamily levels. Archaeobalbini stat. rev. Viidalepp (Geometrinae) is raised from synonymy with Pseudoterpnini Warren to tribal rank. Chlorodontoperini Murillo-Ramos, Sihvonen & Brehm, trib. nov. and Drepanogynini Murillo-Ramos, Sihvonen & Brehm, trib. nov. are described as new tribes in Geometrinae and Ennominae, respectively.