The sunny butterflies: new species of high montane pierids of the Catasticta poujadei group from the Peruvian Andes (Pieridae, Pierinae, Aporiina).

The Catasticta poujadei group, within the subgenus Hesperochoia Reissinger, is revised. Two new species, C. copernicus Pyrcz & Fhraeus sp. nov., and C. buszkoi Boyer & Pyrcz sp. nov. occurring near the timberline in Junn and Apurmac are described. Catasticta eximia Rber is reinstated as a species separate from C. poujadei, and a new subspecies, C. eximia tapuna ssp. nov., is described. The affinities of the species of the C. poujadei group are evaluated based on COI barcodes. Their distribution and habitats are described.

Alpha-taxonomy and phylogeny of African Junoniini butterflies based on morphological data, with an emphasis on genitalia, and COI barcode (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).

The tribe Junoniini is a predominantly Paleotropical group of the cosmopolitan butterfly subfamily Nymphalinae (Nymphalidae), with highest diversity in the Afrotropical region. Its systematics and relationships are not entirely resolved. Question marks remain concerning the validity of some genera; and the apparently close relationship between the Indo-Australian genus Yoma and the Afrotropical Protogoniomorpha, as evidenced by molecular phylogenies, remains a puzzle. Here, we present a cladistic analysis, based on 42 characters of the male and female genitalia of 41 species of Junoniini belonging to six genera, nearly all of them continental Afrotropical, and 3 species of two Indo-Australian genera Yoma and Rhinopalpa. A ML COI-based tree is produced for 36 species of Afrotropical Junoniini and Yoma. The molecular data are consistent with previous studies. However, morphological analysis does not confirm a close relationship between Protogoniomorpha and Yoma. Despite the evolution of a number of modifications, the male genitalia within all genera and species of the Junoniini share a cohesive build plan, in particular a transformed sacculus, from which Yoma is highly divergent. The position of the genus Kamilla, previously synonymized with Junonia, is discussed. Three East African coast taxa, Junonia elgiva stat. reinst., Protogoniomorpha nebulosa stat. reinst. and Salamis amaniensis stat. reinst., and one from central Africa, Precis silvicola stat. reinst. are raised to species level, based on comparative analysis of their male genitalia.

Two new species of Manerebia Staudinger from paramo habitat in the Colombian Eastern Cordillera of the Andes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Satyrinae, Pronophilina).

Two new species of the genus Manerebia Staudinger, 1897 (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) are described from paramo habitat on the eastern slopes of the Colombian Eastern Cordillera in the area of Pisba and La Colorada: Manerebia bernito n. sp. and Manerebia clarita n. sp. Both are morphologically most similar to Manerebia levana and Manerebia pervaga, and the possible phylogenetic relationship between them is hypothesized. Their habitat is described and a proposal of their conservation status is made. With the addition of the two new species described in this study, a total of 15 species of Manerebia are reported from Colombia. However, a molecular analysis should be carried out to validate the taxonomic status of several species of Manerebia, in particular having in mind a potentially high cryptic diversity of this genus.

Solving the cryptic diversity of the genus Manerebia Staudinger in northern Peru: description of new species and considerations on the biogeographical role of the Huancabamba Deflection (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Pronophilina).

The Huancabamba Deflection in the Andes of northern Peru and southern Ecuador is a pivotal area for Neotropical biogeography, where exceptional biodiversity coincides with high rates of endemism. These characteristics are well illustrated within the montane butterfly genus Manerebia Staudinger (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae). Here, six new, apparently endemic species, and two new subspecies, are described from this region: M. inducta Pyrcz Willmott n. sp., M. ronda Pyrcz Boyer, n. sp., M. ronda amplia Pyrcz Boyer, n. ssp., M. punku Pyrcz Farfn n. sp., M. huamanii Cerdea Pyrcz n. sp., M. placida Pyrcz Willmott n. sp., M. granatus Willmott, Radford Pyrcz n. sp. and M. prattorum udima Pyrcz Boyer, n. ssp. A total of 22 species of Manerebia is reported from the study region, as much as half the total number of species in this genus distributed throughout the tropical Andes. The alpha-taxonomy of Manerebia is particularly demanding, as colour patterns have apparently converged among different species making identification virtually impossible in some cases without comparison of their genitalia, which prove taxonomically and phylogenetically highly valuable. On the other hand, several species differ markedly in wing colour patterns and occur at different elevations but have identical genitalia. Furthermore, our data show that DNA barcoding is only partly viable as an alpha-taxonomic tool, as some markedly different species of Manerebia, in terms of external morphology and ecological preferences, are genetically not separable using only COI markers. On the other hand, several species barely differing morphologically are identified based on barcode. Barcodes of 26 species, including 18 from the northern Andes, are studied here, showing strong differences within some taxa previously considered conspecific based on morphological characters, suggesting that their taxonomic status needs to be re-evaluated. In particular, M. trimaculata and the widely distributed polytypic M. inderena may be highly variable species or complexes of several species. A total of 16 species are found north of the Chamaya valley in southern Ecuador and extreme northern Peru, compared to 14 species south of it in northern Peru. The faunal (Jaccard) similarity coefficient of the two adjacent regions is low (0.3), reflecting the role of the Huancabamba Deflection as a biogeographical barrier.