Open AccessPhylogeny of the Neotropical moth tribe Josiini (Notodontidae: Dioptinae): a hidden case of Müllerian mimicry
Author(s) -
MILLER JAMES S.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1996.tb01260.x
Subject(s) - biology , mimicry , monophyly , convergent evolution , tribe , zoology , phylogenetics , cladistics , cladogram , synapomorphy , phylogenetic tree , aposematism , clade , evolutionary biology , ecology , genetics , sociology , anthropology , gene , predation , predator
The Neotropical moth tribe Josiini (Notodontidae: Dioptinae) contains over 100 described species in 11 genera. All are diurnal, with brightly‐coloured, presumably aposematic wing patterns. Larval hostplants are exclusively in the genus Passiflora (Passifloraceae) except for two new records, reported here, from Tumera (Turneraceae). A comparative morphological study of 26 representative josiine species yielded 86 characters from adults, larvae and pupae, all of which are figured and discussed. Phylogenetic analysis of these data produced a single most‐parsimonious cladogram. According to the phylogenetic results: (1) monophyly of the Josiini is strongly supported; (2) the currently accepted generic classification is in disarray; (3) morphological character variation is extensive, and adult traits reflect phylogeny more effectively than do those of immature stages; (4) wing pattern types have undergone convergent evolution. A rare phenotype, longitudinal wing stripes, appears in two widely divergent clades, suggesting the evolution of Miillerian mimicry within the Josiini.