Systematics of Herminiinae of the Palaearctic and Oriental regions, with a taxonomic revision of the Taiwanese fauna (Lepidoptera, Erebidae)
Date Issued
2014
Date
2014
Author(s)
Wu, Shipher
Abstract
The herminiine moths represent as one of the rather well-defined subfamilies in Erebidae and comprise moderate richness with about 1300 species distributed in all the major land masses except Antarctica. Hitherto its members are well-known for the diversified male secondary sexual organs and harboring rather wider hostplant breath from fresh leaves of angiosperms, gymnosperms, mosses, ferns, fungi as well as dead broad leaves, dead insects and vertebrate dung (as detritivores) in Lepidoptera. Though the presence of significant morphological and ecological features, the facing challenge in fact is the poor knowledge on their generic relationships as well as unexplored high species diversity under generally dull wing colour patterns, leaving behind one of the last puzzles to compact the Noctuoidea fauna in most of the biogeographic regions.
The Palaearctic and Oriental region harbors about half richness of known herminiine moths. Though the faunas in Europe, Japan and Borneo were surveyed well previously, the interrelationships and generic boundary of genera occurring in these regions have not yet been systematically studied, the situation impedes the subsequent
faunastic study in the neighboring regions.
The aims of the present study focuses on the herminiines of the Palaearctic and Oriental regions (1) to reassess the diversity and homology of morphological characters; (2) to reconstruct the first Herminiinae-based molecular phylogenetic framework then
combine the morphological results for reassessing the groupings and generic relationships; (3) to comprehensively revised the Taiwanese fauna and update the species distribution that is enigmatic in the previous studies.
Totally 37 genera and 492 described and undescribed species were collected for morphological reassessment. Twenty one genera and 43 ingroup taxa plus aganaine Asota heliconia zebrina (Butler, 1877) and Macodina subcostalis (Walker, 1865) as outgroups were sampled for reconstructing phylogeny based on partial COI, EF-1α and combined sequences and maximum likelihood analysis.
The result shows the Palaearctic and Oriental herminiines form a monophyletic group and three main groups are included, i.e. (1) the Bertula generic group supporting by the male foretibial sheath and distal right-angulated process on 1st foretibia; (2) the Idia generic group supporting by the frequent presence of forewing costal fold and
rather unmodified foreleg structures and (3) the Polypogon generic group supporting by the male foretibial sheath and reduced number of foretarsal segments. Though all Hydrillodes taxa form a clade based on molecular results, the higher systematic position of this genus still need further study. In taxonomic revision, 25 genera and 149 species
are recorded in the Taiwanese fauna, including 54 newly described, 3 revived, 17 newly recorded species, 9 synonymous treatments. Six species previously recorded in Taiwan are reconfirmed to be misidentified and therefore are deleted from the Taiwanese checklist. The distribution of Bertula alpheusalis Walker, [1859] 1858 in Taiwan need to be reconfirmed.
Subjects
夜蛾總科
發香器官
大陸型島嶼
特有種
新種
Type
thesis
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