Abstract The phylogeny of the genus Cubitermes Wasmann was reconstructed using two mitochondrial genes ( COI and COII ) and a fragment of the nuclear 28S rDNA , including samples of Apilitermes Holmgren, Crenetermes Silvestri, Megagnathotermes Silvestri and Thoracotermes Wasmann. Based on our analyses, we recovered these genera within a paraphyletic Cubitermes clade. Cubitermes species are distributed between five main clades, highly reflective of their enteric valve armatures (EVAs). Consequently, Cubitermes is here divided into five monophyletic genera based on phylogenetic analyses and EVAs: Cubitermes ( sensu stricto ), Isognathotermes Sjöstedt, Nitiditermes Emerson, Polyspathotermes Josens & Deligne, gen.n. , and Ternicubitermes Josens & Deligne, gen.n. Moreover, the two species of Megagnathotermes included in this study, exhibiting different EVAs, are phylogenetically distant: M. katangensis Sjöstedt belongs in the genus Polyspathotermes , while M. notandus Silvestri remains as a monotypic genus. During the evolution of the Cubitermes complex, sclerotized EVA spatulae appeared twice independently: three or six spatulae in Polyspathotermes ( sulcifrons and oblectatus patterns) and two jaw‐like spatulae in Nitiditermes ( sankurensis pattern), which is absent in some species ( oculatus pattern). Zoobank registration: http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:576AAFF8‐63C6‐4962‐A8F5‐75C9317AEA7B .

Abstract The Adelges ( Dreyfusia ) piceae (Ratzeburg) species complex is a taxonomically unstable group of six species. Three of the species are cyclically parthenogenetic [ Ad . nordmannianae (Eckstein), Ad . prelli (Grossmann), and Ad . merkeri (Eichhorn)] and three are obligately asexual [ Ad . piceae , Ad . schneideri (Börner), and Ad . nebrodensis (Binazzi & Covassi)]. Some species are high‐impact pests of fir ( Abies ) trees, so stable species names are needed to communicate effectively about management. Therefore, to refine species delimitation, guided by a reconstruction of their biogeographic history, we genotyped adelgids from Europe, North America, and the Caucasus Mountains region with 19 microsatellite loci, sequenced the COI DNA barcoding region, and compared morphology. Discriminant analysis of principal components of microsatellite genotypes revealed four distinct genetic clusters. Two clusters were morphologically consistent with Ad . nordmannianae . One of these clusters consisted of samples from the Caucasus Mountains and northern Turkey, and the other included samples from this region as well as from Europe and North America, where Ad . nordmannianae is invasive. A third cluster was morphologically consistent with Ad . piceae , and included individuals from Europe, where it is native, and North America, where it is invasive. In North America, the majority of Ad . piceae individuals were assigned to two geographically widespread clones, suggesting multiple introductions. The fourth cluster included individuals morphologically consistent with Ad . prelli or Ad . merkeri . However, based on genetic assignments, hybrid simulations, and approximate Bayesian computation, we find it likely that these are contemporary hybrids between Ad . nordmannianae and Ad . piceae that arose independently in Europe and North America, so we propose that Ad . prelli and Ad . merkeri are invalid. Finally, we synonymise Ad . schneideri (syn.n.) with Ad . nordmannianae and designate Ad . nebrodensis as subspecies Ad . piceae nebrodensis (stat.n.) . Our revised taxonomy therefore recognises two species: Ad . nordmannianae and Ad . piceae , which we estimate to have diverged recently, during one of the last two interglacial periods. Finally, we comment on this species complex being in the midst of transition between sexual and asexual reproduction, a pattern that is probably common in Adelgidae.

Abstract The Old‐World Tropics encompass many unique biomes and associated biotas shaped by drastic climate and geological changes throughout the Cenozoic. Disjunct distributions of clades between the Afrotropics and the Oriental regions are testament to these changes. Awl and policeman skippers (Hesperiidae: Coeliadinae) are disjunctly distributed with some genera endemic to the Afrotropics and others restricted to the Oriental and Australian regions. We reconstruct the phylogeny of these butterflies using target exon capture phylogenomics. We also generate a dated framework for this clade that uses the putatively oldest known butterfly fossil to estimate the historical biogeography of Coeliadinae using a model‐based approach. We infer a stable and robust phylogeny for the subfamily, with all but one Afrotropical lineage forming a derived clade. The African genus Pyrrhiades syn. nov. is placed in synonymy with Coeliades to accommodate the new phylogeny. Our comparative dating exercise casts doubt on the assignment of the fossil Protocoeliades kristenseni as a derived Coeliadinae and suggests, along with our biogeographic estimation, a split of Coeliadinae from the rest of skippers in the Palaeocene ca . 70 million years ago. The origin of crown Coeliadinae skippers is estimated in Indomalaya during the late Eocene ca . 36 million years ago, with subsequent Oligocene colonisation events toward the Australian region and the Afrotropics. Colonisation of the Afrotropics from the Indian region occurred during climatic transition, associated biome shifts, and the closure of the Tethys Ocean, which likely allowed geodispersal through the Arabian Peninsula. The current disjunct distribution of Coeliadinae in the Old World Tropics may result from the emergence of savannahs in the Miocene that progressively replaced woodlands and forests in the Arabian Peninsula and western Asia. Coeliadinae skippers are almost exclusively dicot feeders and were likely extirpated as grasslands became dominant, resulting in the present‐day disjunct distribution of these butterflies.

Abstract In traditional taxonomy, species are differentiated using morphological arguments, which can be subjective and cause confusion particularly when the initial species descriptions have been inadequate. The development of DNA‐based methods has provided more objective tools to recognize and quantify species differences, as well as enabled the detection of cryptic that is morphologically indistinguishable, species. Conversely, we show here that large‐scale, genome‐wide analysis of 11 427 loci and 65 825 SNPs is mostly unable to differentiate between many of the currently valid Palearctic species of bug‐killing parasitoid flies in the genus Gymnosoma Meigen (Diptera: Tachinidae), despite the proposed morphological differences. We conclude that alongside a few well‐defined taxa with discrete morphological features and unique DNA barcodes, Palearctic Gymnosoma is likely to contain a single, highly variable and geographically widespread species.

DNA degrades over time in pinned insect specimens stored under typical conditions in museum collections. In many studies, this has made obtaining genotypic information from museum specimens difficult and inconsistent. Efficient DNA extraction, PCR, a restriction digest assay, and sensitive capillary electrophoresis fragment detection was used for rapid, reliable, and inexpensive genotyping of pinned butterfly museum specimens collected from before 1813 to 1910. Based on mitochondrial haplotype frequencies from geographically matched historical and contemporary populations of Junonia butterflies (Nymphalidae), we conclude that mitochondrial genotypes are recoverable from many or even most pinned insect specimens in museums.

Abstract Mayflies from the family Leptophlebiidae are cosmopolitan and highly diverse morphologically; they are also the largest family in numbers of genera and the second in number of species in the order Ephemeroptera. In spite of their broad diversity and the efforts employed to understand the evolution of this group, the internal classification of Leptophlebiidae remains controversial at all levels. More recently, important changes have been incorporated into the systematics of the family, increasing the number of subfamilies (from two to six) and recognizing several tribes. We present a phylogeny of the family based on 153 taxa (53 genera) and two molecular markers, representing 1655 bp, and verify the taxonomic status of the subfamilies, tribes and complexes. Based on these results, the number of subfamilies has been increased from six to eight and one new tribes and two new subtribes have been added. In addition, new ranks are proposed and the concept of Atalophlebiinae revised, including genera with distributions in the Australasian and Neotropical regions.

Delineating species boundaries in phylogenetic groups undergoing recent radiation is a daunting challenge akin to discretizing continuity. Here, we propose a general approach exemplified by American butterflies from the genus Junonia Hübner notorious for the variety of similar phenotypes, ease of hybridization, and the lack of consensus about their classification. We obtain whole-genome shotgun sequences of about 200 specimens. We reason that discreteness emerges from continuity by means of a small number of key players, and search for the proteins that diverged markedly between sympatric populations of different species, while keeping low polymorphism within these species. Being 0.25% of the total number, these three dozen 'speciation' proteins indeed partition pairs of Junonia populations into two clusters with a prominent break in between, while all proteins taken together fail to reveal this discontinuity. Populations with larger divergence from each other, comparable to that between two sympatric species, form the first cluster and correspond to different species. The other cluster is characterized by smaller divergence, similar to that between allopatric populations of the same species and comprise conspecific pairs. Using this method, we conclude that J. genoveva (Cramer), J. litoralis Brévignon, J. evarete (Cramer), and J. divaricata C. & R. Felder are restricted to South America. We find that six species of Junonia are present in the United States, one of which is new: Junonia stemosa Grishin, sp.n. (i), found in south Texas and phenotypically closest to J. nigrosuffusa W. Barnes & McDunnough (ii) in its dark appearance. In the pale nudum of the antennal club, these two species resemble J. zonalis C. & R. Felder (iii) from Florida and the Caribbean Islands. The pair of sister species, J. grisea Austin & J. Emmel (iv) and J. coenia Hübner (v), represent the classic west/east U.S.A. split. The mangrove feeder (as caterpillar), dark nudum J. neildi Brévignon (vi) enters south Texas as a new subspecies Junonia neildi varia Grishin ssp.n. characterized by more extensive hybridization with and introgression from J. coenia, and, as a consequence, more variable wing patterns compared with the nominal J. n. neildi in Florida. Furthermore, a new mangrove-feeding species from the Pacific Coast of Mexico is described as Junonia pacoma Grishin sp.n. Finally, genomic analysis suggests that J. nigrosuffusa may be a hybrid species formed by the ancestors of J. grisea and J. stemosa sp.n.