Atrás A closer look to Riodinidae butterflies

A closer look to Riodinidae butterflies

The family is ~96 My old and has ~1500 species (8% of all butterflies). It exhibits the greatest variation in wing shape, color and pattern in any butterfly family. Espeland M, et al (2015). Ancient Neotropical origin and recent recolonisation: Phylogeny, biogeography and diversification of the Riodinidae. Mol Phylogenet Evol

01.09.2015

 

A long-term study by a joint team of butterfly researchers, including Roger Vila and Gerard Talavera, reviews through extensive surveys and data one of the two butterfly families still lacking for a comprehensive phylogenetic framework: the Riodinidae.

The family is ~96 My old and has about 1500 species (8% of all butterflies). It is mostly distributed in the tropics (only one species is present in Europe), and particularly in the Neotropics, where have evolved towards exhibiting the greatest variation in wing shape, color and pattern in any butterfly family.

The phylogeny puzzle out and allows linking the higher-level systematics and the intriguing biogeographic history that both have confused lepidopterists for a long time, and that the title summarizes well:

Espeland M, Hall JP, DeVries PJ, Lees DC, Cornwall M, Hsu YF, Wu LW, Campbell DL, Talavera G, Vila R, Salzman S, Ruehr S, Lohman DJ, Pierce NE (2015). Ancient Neotropical origin and recent recolonisation: Phylogeny, biogeography and diversification of the Riodinidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 93 (2015) 296-306.

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