To and fro in the archipelago: Repeated inter-island dispersal and New Guinea's orogeny affect diversification of Delias, the world's largest butterfly genus.

The world's largest butterfly genus Delias, commonly known as Jezebels, comprises ca. 251 species found throughout Asia, Australia, and Melanesia. Most species are endemic to islands in the Indo-Australian Archipelago or to New Guinea and nearby islands in Melanesia, and many species are restricted to montane habitats over 1200 m. We inferred an extensively sampled and well-supported molecular phylogeny of the group to better understand the spatial and temporal dimensions of its diversification. The remarkable diversity of Delias evolved in just ca. 15-16 Myr (crown age). The most recent common ancestor of a clade with most of the species dispersed out of New Guinea ca. 14 Mya, but at least six subsequently diverging lineages dispersed back to the island. Diversification was associated with frequent dispersal of lineages among the islands of the Indo-Australian Archipelago, and the divergence of sister taxa on a single landmass was rare and occurred only on the largest islands, most notably on New Guinea. We conclude that frequent inter-island dispersal during the Neogene-likely facilitated by frequent sea level change-sparked much diversification during that period. Many extant New Guinea lineages started diversifying 5 Mya, suggesting that orogeny facilitated their diversification. Our results largely agree with the most recently proposed species group classification system, and we use our large taxon sample to extend this system to all described species. Finally, we summarize recent insights to speculate how wing pattern evolution, mimicry, and sexual selection might also contribute to these butterflies' rapid speciation and diversification.

A global phylogeny of butterflies reveals their evolutionary history, ancestral hosts and biogeographic origins.

Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to have evolved with plants and dispersed throughout the world in response to key geological events. However, these hypotheses have not been extensively tested because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and datasets for butterfly larval hosts and global distributions are lacking. We sequenced 391 genes from nearly 2,300 butterfly species, sampled from 90 countries and 28 specimen collections, to reconstruct a new phylogenomic tree of butterflies representing 92% of all genera. Our phylogeny has strong support for nearly all nodes and demonstrates that at least 36 butterfly tribes require reclassification. Divergence time analyses imply an origin ~100 million years ago for butterflies and indicate that all but one family were present before the K/Pg extinction event. We aggregated larval host datasets and global distribution records and found that butterflies are likely to have first fed on Fabaceae and originated in what is now the Americas. Soon after the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum, butterflies crossed Beringia and diversified in the Palaeotropics. Our results also reveal that most butterfly species are specialists that feed on only one larval host plant family. However, generalist butterflies that consume two or more plant families usually feed on closely related plants.

A comprehensive phylogeny and revised taxonomy illuminate the origin and diversification of the global radiation of Papilio (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae).

The swallowtail genus Papilio (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) is species rich, distributed worldwide, and has broad morphological habits and ecological niches. Because of its elevated species richness, it has been historically difficult to reconstruct a densely sampled phylogeny for this clade. Here we provide a taxonomic working list for the genus, resulting in 235 Papilio species, and assemble a molecular dataset of seven gene fragments representing ca. 80% of the currently described diversity. Phylogenetic analyses reconstructed a robust tree with highly supported relationships within subgenera, although a few nodes in the early history of the Old World Papilio remain unresolved. Contrasting with previous results, we found that Papilio alexanor is sister to all Old World Papilio and that the subgenus Eleppone is no longer monotypic. The latter includes the recently described Fijian Papilio natewa with the Australian Papilio anactus and is sister to subgenus Araminta (formerly included in subgenus Menelaides) occurring in Southeast Asia. Our phylogeny also includes rarely studied (P. antimachus, P. benguetana) or endangered species (P. buddha, P. chikae). Taxonomic changes resulting from this study are elucidated. Molecular dating and biogeographic analyses indicate that Papilio originated ca. 30 million years ago (Oligocene), in a northern region centered on Beringia. A rapid early Miocene radiation in the Paleotropics is revealed within Old World Papilio, potentially explaining their low early branch support. Most subgenera originated in the early to middle Miocene followed by synchronous southward biogeographic dispersals and repeated local extirpations in northern latitudes. This study provides a comprehensive phylogenetic framework for Papilio with clarification of subgeneric systematics and species taxonomic changes enumerated, which will facilitate further studies to address questions on their ecology and evolutionary biology using this model clade.

Mezcal worm in a bottle: DNA evidence suggests a single moth species.

Mezcals are distilled Mexican alcoholic beverages consumed by many people across the globe. One of the most popular mezcals is tequila, but there are other forms of mezcal whose production has been part of Mexican culture since the 17th century. It was not until the 1940-50s when the mezcal worm, also known as the "tequila worm", was placed inside bottles of non-tequila mezcal before distribution. These bottled larvae increased public attention for mezcal, especially in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Despite these larvae gaining global interest, their identity has largely remained uncertain other than that they are larvae of one of three distantly related holometabolous insects. We sequenced the COI gene from larvae in different kinds of commercially available mezcals. All larval DNA that amplified was identified as the agave redworm moth, Comadia redtenbacheri. Those that did not amplify were also confirmed morphologically to be the larva of this species.

HyRAD-X Exome Capture Museomics Unravels Giant Ground Beetle Evolution.

Advances in phylogenomics contribute toward resolving long-standing evolutionary questions. Notwithstanding, genetic diversity contained within more than a billion biological specimens deposited in natural history museums remains recalcitrant to analysis owing to challenges posed by its intrinsically degraded nature. Yet that tantalizing resource could be critical in overcoming taxon sampling constraints hindering our ability to address major evolutionary questions. We addressed this impediment by developing phyloHyRAD, a new bioinformatic pipeline enabling locus recovery at a broad evolutionary scale from HyRAD-X exome capture of museum specimens of low DNA integrity using a benchtop RAD-derived exome-complexity-reduction probe set developed from high DNA integrity specimens. Our new pipeline can also successfully align raw RNAseq transcriptomic and ultraconserved element reads with the RAD-derived probe catalog. Using this method, we generated a robust timetree for Carabinae beetles, the lack of which had precluded study of macroevolutionary trends pertaining to their biogeography and wing-morphology evolution. We successfully recovered up to 2,945 loci with a mean of 1,788 loci across the exome of specimens of varying age. Coverage was not significantly linked to specimen age, demonstrating the wide exploitability of museum specimens. We also recovered fragmentary mitogenomes compatible with Sanger-sequenced mtDNA. Our phylogenomic timetree revealed a Lower Cretaceous origin for crown group Carabinae, with the extinct Aplothorax Waterhouse, 1841 nested within the genus Calosoma Weber, 1801 demonstrating the junior synonymy of Aplothorax syn. nov., resulting in the new combination Calosomaburchellii (Waterhouse, 1841) comb. nov. This study compellingly illustrates that HyRAD-X and phyloHyRAD efficiently provide genomic-level data sets informative at deep evolutionary scales.

New Guinean orogenic dynamics and biota evolution revealed using a custom geospatial analysis pipeline.

BACKGROUND: The New Guinean archipelago has been shaped by millions of years of plate tectonic activity combined with long-term fluctuations in climate and sea level. These processes combined with New Guinea's location at the tectonic junction between the Australian and Pacific plates are inherently linked to the evolution of its rich endemic biota. With the advent of molecular phylogenetics and an increasing amount of geological data, the field of New Guinean biogeography begins to be reinvigorated. RESULTS: We inferred a comprehensive dated molecular phylogeny of endemic diving beetles to test historical hypotheses pertaining to the evolution of the New Guinean biota. We used geospatial analysis techniques to compare our phylogenetic results with a newly developed geological terrane map of New Guinea as well as the altitudinal and geographic range of species ( https://arcg.is/189zmz ). Our divergence time estimations indicate a crown age (early diversification) for New Guinea Exocelina beetles in the mid-Miocene ca. 17 Ma, when the New Guinean orogeny was at an early stage. Geographic and geological ancestral state reconstructions suggest an origin of Exocelina ancestors on the eastern part of the New Guinean central range on basement rocks (with a shared affinity with the Australian Plate). Our results do not support the hypothesis of ancestors migrating to the northern margin of the Australian Plate from Pacific terranes that incrementally accreted to New Guinea over time. However, our analyses support to some extent a scenario in which Exocelina ancestors would have been able to colonize back and forth between the amalgamated Australian and Pacific terranes from the Miocene onwards. Our reconstructions also do not support an origin on ultramafic or ophiolite rocks that have been colonized much later in the evolution of the radiation. Macroevolutionary analyses do not support the hypothesis of heterogeneous diversification rates throughout the evolution of this radiation, suggesting instead a continuous slowdown in speciation. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our geospatial analysis approach to investigate the links between the location and evolution of New Guinea's biota with the underlying geology sheds a new light on the patterns and processes of lineage diversification in this exceedingly diverse region of the planet.

Is Sexual Conflict a Driver of Speciation? A Case Study With a Tribe of Brush-footed Butterflies.

Understanding the evolutionary mechanisms governing the uneven distribution of species richness across the tree of life is a great challenge in biology. Scientists have long argued that sexual conflict is a key driver of speciation. This hypothesis, however, has been highly debated in light of empirical evidence. Recent advances in the study of macroevolution make it possible to test this hypothesis with more data and increased accuracy. In the present study, we use phylogenomics combined with four different diversification rate analytical approaches to test whether sexual conflict is a driver of speciation in brush-footed butterflies of the tribe Acraeini. The presence of a sphragis, an external mating plug found in most species among Acraeini, was used as a proxy for sexual conflict. Diversification analyses statistically rejected the hypothesis that sexual conflict is associated with shifts in diversification rates in Acraeini. This result contrasts with earlier studies and suggests that the underlying mechanisms driving diversification are more complex than previously considered. In the case of butterflies, natural history traits acting in concert with abiotic factors possibly play a stronger role in triggering speciation than does sexual conflict. [Acraeini butterflies; arms race; exon capture phylogenomics; Lepidoptera macroevolution; sexual selection; sphragis.].

The roles of wing color pattern and geography in the evolution of Neotropical Preponini butterflies.

Diversification rates and evolutionary trajectories are known to be influenced by phenotypic traits and the geographic history of the landscapes that organisms inhabit. One of the most conspicuous traits in butterflies is their wing color pattern, which has been shown to be important in speciation. The evolution of many taxa in the Neotropics has also been influenced by major geological events. Using a dated, species-level molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for Preponini, a colorful Neotropical butterfly tribe, we evaluated whether diversification rates were constant or varied through time, and how they were influenced by color pattern evolution and biogeographical events. We found that Preponini originated approximately 28 million years ago and that diversification has increased through time consistent with major periods of Andean uplift. Even though some clades show evolutionarily rapid transitions in coloration, contrary to our expectations, these shifts were not correlated with shifts in diversification. Involvement in mimicry with other butterfly groups might explain the rapid changes in dorsal color patterns in this tribe, but such changes have not increased species diversification in this group. However, we found evidence for an influence of major Miocene and Pliocene geological events on the tribe's evolution. Preponini apparently originated within South America, and range evolution has since been dynamic, congruent with Andean geologic activity, closure of the Panama Isthmus, and Miocene climate variability.

Phylogenomics reveals the evolutionary timing and pattern of butterflies and moths.

Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) are one of the major superradiations of insects, comprising nearly 160,000 described extant species. As herbivores, pollinators, and prey, Lepidoptera play a fundamental role in almost every terrestrial ecosystem. Lepidoptera are also indicators of environmental change and serve as models for research on mimicry and genetics. They have been central to the development of coevolutionary hypotheses, such as butterflies with flowering plants and moths' evolutionary arms race with echolocating bats. However, these hypotheses have not been rigorously tested, because a robust lepidopteran phylogeny and timing of evolutionary novelties are lacking. To address these issues, we inferred a comprehensive phylogeny of Lepidoptera, using the largest dataset assembled for the order (2,098 orthologous protein-coding genes from transcriptomes of 186 species, representing nearly all superfamilies), and dated it with carefully evaluated synapomorphy-based fossils. The oldest members of the Lepidoptera crown group appeared in the Late Carboniferous (∼300 Ma) and fed on nonvascular land plants. Lepidoptera evolved the tube-like proboscis in the Middle Triassic (∼241 Ma), which allowed them to acquire nectar from flowering plants. This morphological innovation, along with other traits, likely promoted the extraordinary diversification of superfamily-level lepidopteran crown groups. The ancestor of butterflies was likely nocturnal, and our results indicate that butterflies became day-flying in the Late Cretaceous (∼98 Ma). Moth hearing organs arose multiple times before the evolutionary arms race between moths and bats, perhaps initially detecting a wide range of sound frequencies before being co-opted to specifically detect bat sonar. Our study provides an essential framework for future comparative studies on butterfly and moth evolution.

Flight over the Proto-Caribbean seaway: Phylogeny and macroevolution of Neotropical Anaeini leafwing butterflies.

Our understanding of the origin and evolution of the astonishing Neotropical biodiversity remains somewhat limited. In particular, decoupling the respective impacts of biotic and abiotic factors on the macroevolution of clades is paramount to understand biodiversity assemblage in this region. We present the first comprehensive molecular phylogeny for the Neotropical Anaeini leafwing butterflies (Nymphalidae, Charaxinae) and, applying likelihood-based methods, we test the impact of major abiotic (Andean orogeny, Central American highland orogeny, Proto-Caribbean seaway closure, Quaternary glaciations) and biotic (host plant association) factors on their macroevolution. We infer a robust phylogenetic hypothesis for the tribe despite moderate support in some derived clades. Our phylogenetic inference recovers the genus Polygrapha Staudinger, [1887] as polyphyletic, rendering the genera FountaineaRydon, 1971 and Memphis Hübner, [1819] paraphyletic. Consequently, we transfer Polygrapha tyrianthina (Salvin & Godman, 1868) comb. nov. to Fountainea and Polygrapha xenocrates (Westwood, 1850) comb. nov. to Memphis. We infer an origin of the group in the late Eocene ca. 40 million years ago in Central American lowlands which at the time were separated from South America by the Proto-Caribbean seaway. The biogeographical history of the group is very dynamic, with several oversea colonization events from Central America into the Chocó and Andean regions during intense stages of Andean orogeny. These events coincide with the emergence of an archipelagic setting between Central America and northern South America in the mid-Miocene that likely facilitated dispersal across the now-vanished Proto-Caribbean seaway. The Amazonian region also played a central role in the diversification of the Anaeini, acting both as a museum and a cradle of diversity. We recover a diversification rate shift in the Miocene within the species-rich genus Memphis. State speciation and extinction models recover a significant relationship between this rate shift and host plant association, indicating a positive role on speciation rates of a switch between Malpighiales and new plant orders. We find less support for a role of abiotic factors including the progressive Andean orogeny, Proto-Caribbean seaway closure and Quaternary glaciations. Miocene host plant shifts possibly acted in concert with abiotic and/or biotic factors to shape the diversification of Anaeini butterflies.

Forest giants on different evolutionary branches: Ecomorphological convergence in helicopter damselflies.

The convergent evolution of analogous features is an evolutionary process occurring independently across the tree of life. From the evolution of echolocation, prehensile tail, viviparity, or winged flight, environmental factors often drive this astonishing phenomenon. However, convergent evolution is not always conspicuous or easily identified. Giant damselflies count among the largest flying insects on Earth, and have astonishing ecologies including orb-web spider plucking and oviposition in phytotelmata. One species occurs in the Afrotropics and 18 species are found in the Neotropics. Convergent evolution was historically hypothesized based on the ecological and morphological affinities of these two geographically distant lineages but was not supported by earlier phylogenetic inferences supporting their monophyly. Using a molecular supermatrix approach and a large selection of outgroups, we revisit and reject the monophyly of Afrotropical and Neotropical giant damselflies that is otherwise supported by a morphological phylogeny. Molecular divergence time estimation suggests an origin of Afrotropical giant damselflies in the late Paleogene, and of Neotropical ones at the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary, thereby rejecting a long-standing West Gondwana vicariance hypothesis. The strong ecological and morphological resemblances between these two independent lineages represents an astonishing case of Amphi-Atlantic tropical convergent evolution.

Opposite macroevolutionary responses to environmental changes in grasses and insects during the Neogene grassland expansion.

The rise of Neogene C4 grasslands is one of the most drastic changes recently experienced by the biosphere. A central - and widely debated - hypothesis posits that Neogene grasslands acted as a major adaptive zone for herbivore lineages. We test this hypothesis with a novel model system, the Sesamiina stemborer moths and their associated host-grasses. Using a comparative phylogenetic framework integrating paleoenvironmental proxies we recover a negative correlation between the evolutionary trajectories of insects and plants. Our results show that paleoenvironmental changes generated opposing macroevolutionary dynamics in this insect-plant system and call into question the role of grasslands as a universal adaptive cradle. This study illustrates the importance of implementing environmental proxies in diversification analyses to disentangle the relative impacts of biotic and abiotic drivers of macroevolutionary dynamics.

Origin and macroevolution of micro-moths on sunken Hawaiian Islands.

The origins and evolution of Hawaiian biodiversity are a matter of controversy, and the mechanisms of lineage diversification for many organisms on this remote archipelago remain unclear. Here we focus on the poorly known endemic leaf-mining moth genus Philodoria (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae), whose species feed on a diversity of Hawaiian plant lineages, many of which are critically endangered. We use anchored hybrid enrichment to assemble the first phylogenomic dataset (507 loci) for any Hawaiian animal taxon. To uncover the timing and pattern of diversification of these moths, we apply two frequently used dating calibration strategies, biogeographic calibrations and secondary calibrations. Island calibrations on their own resulted in much younger and unrealistic dates compared to strategies that relied on secondary calibrations. Philodoria probably originated on the now partially sunken islands of Laysan or Lisianski, approximately 21 Ma, and were associated with host plants in the families Ebenaceae, Malvaceae or Primulaceae. Major feeding groups associated with specific host-plant families originated soon after the plants colonized the islands. Allopatric isolation and host shifts, in concert and independently, probably play major roles in the diversification of Philodoria Our dating results indicate that Philodoria is among the oldest known Hawaiian arthropod lineages, and that island calibrations alone can lead to unrealistically young dates.

Stream flow alone does not predict population structure of diving beetles across complex tropical landscapes.

Recent theoretical advances have hypothesized a central role of habitat persistence on population genetic structure and resulting biodiversity patterns of freshwater organisms. Here, we address the hypothesis that lotic species, or lineages adapted to comparably geologically stable running water habitats (streams and their marginal habitats), have high levels of endemicity and phylogeographic structure due to the persistent nature of their habitat. We use a nextRAD DNA sequencing approach to investigate the population structure and phylogeography of a putatively widespread New Guinean species of diving beetle, Philaccolilus ameliae (Dytiscidae). We find that P. ameliae is a complex of morphologically cryptic, but geographically and genetically well-differentiated clades. The pattern of population connectivity is consistent with theoretical predictions associated with stable lotic habitats. However, in two clades, we find a more complex pattern of low population differentiation, revealing dispersal across rugged mountains and watersheds of New Guinea up to 430 km apart. These results, while surprising, were also consistent with the original formulation of the habitat template concept by Southwood, involving lineage-idiosyncratic evolution in response to abiotic factors. In our system, low population differentiation might reflect a young species in a phase of range expansion utilizing vast available habitat. We suggest that predictions of life history variation resulting from the dichotomy between lotic and lentic organisms require more attention to habitat characterization and microhabitat choice. Our results also underpin the necessity to study fine-scale processes but at a larger geographical scale, as compared to solely documenting macroecological patterns, to understand ecological drivers of regional biodiversity. Comprehensive sampling especially of tropical lineages in complex and threatened environments such as New Guinea remains a critical challenge.

Anchored phylogenomics illuminates the skipper butterfly tree of life.

BACKGROUND: Butterflies (Papilionoidea) are perhaps the most charismatic insect lineage, yet phylogenetic relationships among them remain incompletely studied and controversial. This is especially true for skippers (Hesperiidae), one of the most species-rich and poorly studied butterfly families. METHODS: To infer a robust phylogenomic hypothesis for Hesperiidae, we sequenced nearly 400 loci using Anchored Hybrid Enrichment and sampled all tribes and more than 120 genera of skippers. Molecular datasets were analyzed using maximum-likelihood, parsimony and coalescent multi-species phylogenetic methods. RESULTS: All analyses converged on a novel, robust phylogenetic hypothesis for skippers. Different optimality criteria and methodologies recovered almost identical phylogenetic trees with strong nodal support at nearly all nodes and all taxonomic levels. Our results support Coeliadinae as the sister group to the remaining skippers, the monotypic Euschemoninae as the sister group to all other subfamilies but Coeliadinae, and the monophyly of Eudaminae plus Pyrginae. Within Pyrginae, Celaenorrhinini and Tagiadini are sister groups, the Neotropical firetips, Pyrrhopygini, are sister to all other tribes but Celaenorrhinini and Tagiadini. Achlyodini is recovered as the sister group to Carcharodini, and Erynnini as sister group to Pyrgini. Within the grass skippers (Hesperiinae), there is strong support for the monophyly of Aeromachini plus remaining Hesperiinae. The giant skippers (Agathymus and Megathymus) once classified as a subfamily, are recovered as monophyletic with strong support, but are deeply nested within Hesperiinae. CONCLUSIONS: Anchored Hybrid Enrichment sequencing resulted in a large amount of data that built the foundation for a new, robust evolutionary tree of skippers. The newly inferred phylogenetic tree resolves long-standing systematic issues and changes our understanding of the skipper tree of life. These resultsenhance understanding of the evolution of one of the most species-rich butterfly families.

Phylogenetics of moth-like butterflies (Papilionoidea: Hedylidae) based on a new 13-locus target capture probe set.

The Neotropical moth-like butterflies (Hedylidae) are perhaps the most unusual butterfly family. In addition to being species-poor, this family is predominantly nocturnal and has anti-bat ultrasound hearing organs. Evolutionary relationships among the 36 described species are largely unexplored. A new, target capture, anchored hybrid enrichment probe set ('BUTTERFLY2.0') was developed to infer relationships of hedylids and some of their butterfly relatives. The probe set includes 13 genes that have historically been used in butterfly phylogenetics. Our dataset comprised of up to 10,898 aligned base pairs from 22 hedylid species and 19 outgroups. Eleven of the thirteen loci were successfully captured from all samples, and the remaining loci were captured from ≥94% of samples. The inferred phylogeny was consistent with recent molecular studies by placing Hedylidae sister to Hesperiidae, and the tree had robust support for 80% of nodes. Our results are also consistent with morphological studies, with Macrosoma tipulata as the sister species to all remaining hedylids, followed by M. semiermis sister to the remaining species in the genus. We tested the hypothesis that nocturnality evolved once from diurnality in Hedylidae, and demonstrate that the ancestral condition was likely diurnal, with a shift to nocturnality early in the diversification of this family. The BUTTERFLY2.0 probe set includes standard butterfly phylogenetics markers, captures sequences from decades-old museum specimens, and is a cost-effective technique to infer phylogenetic relationships of the butterfly tree of life.

Transoceanic Stepping-stones between Cretaceous waterfalls? The enigmatic biogeography of pantropical Oocyclus cascade beetles.

Beetles have colonized freshwater habitats multiple times throughout their evolutionary history. Some of these aquatic lineages are associated exclusively with waterfall-like habitats, often with modified morphologies to cope with their unusual way of life. The historical biogeography of such cascade beetle lineages has been shown to strongly reflect ancient tectonic events. We focus on the pantropical genus Oocyclus of which species dwell in waterfalls and associated habitats. We infer the first molecular phylogeny of Oocyclus using a dataset of seven gene fragments. We recover a well resolved phylogenetic hypothesis, with a monophyletic Oocyclus divided in three genetically well-differentiated subclades which correspond to geography. Comparative dating analyses across Hydrophilidae based on ten fossil calibrations recover a Cretaceous origin for the genus. Based on a comprehensive suite of ancestral range analyses, we suggest a unique pattern with an origin in Southeast Asia followed by the successive colonization of India and the Neotropics via transoceanic stepping-stone dispersal. Diversification rate analyses support a scenario in which old Oocyclus lineages diversified slowly with a homogeneous rate regime. Waterfall beetle radiations are ancient and remarkably track Earth's paleogeological history, shedding light on intricate patterns of macroevolution.

A Comprehensive and Dated Phylogenomic Analysis of Butterflies.

Butterflies (Papilionoidea), with over 18,000 described species [1], have captivated naturalists and scientists for centuries. They play a central role in the study of speciation, community ecology, biogeography, climate change, and plant-insect interactions and include many model organisms and pest species [2, 3]. However, a robust higher-level phylogenetic framework is lacking. To fill this gap, we inferred a dated phylogeny by analyzing the first phylogenomic dataset, including 352 loci (> 150,000 bp) from 207 species representing 98% of tribes, a 35-fold increase in gene sampling and 3-fold increase in taxon sampling over previous studies [4]. Most data were generated with a new anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) [5] gene kit (BUTTERFLY1.0) that includes both new and frequently used (e.g., [6]) informative loci, enabling direct comparison and future dataset merging with previous studies. Butterflies originated around 119 million years ago (mya) in the late Cretaceous, but most extant lineages diverged after the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass-extinction 65 mya. Our analyses support swallowtails (Papilionidae) as sister to all other butterflies, followed by skippers (Hesperiidae) + the nocturnal butterflies (Hedylidae) as sister to the remainder, indicating a secondary reversal from diurnality to nocturnality. The whites (Pieridae) were strongly supported as sister to brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae) and blues + metalmarks (Lycaenidae and Riodinidae). Ant association independently evolved once in Lycaenidae and twice in Riodinidae. This study overturns prior notions of the taxon's evolutionary history, as many long-recognized subfamilies and tribes are para- or polyphyletic. It also provides a much-needed backbone for a revised classification of butterflies and for future comparative studies including genome evolution and ecology.

Transoceanic origin of microendemic and flightless New Caledonian weevils.

The origin of the astonishing New Caledonian biota continues to fuel a heated debate among advocates of a Gondwanan relict scenario and defenders of late oceanic dispersal. Here, we study the origin of New Caledonian Trigonopterus flightless weevils using a multimarker molecular phylogeny. We infer two independent clades of species found in the archipelago. Our dating estimates suggest a Late Miocene origin of both clades long after the re-emergence of New Caledonia about 37 Ma. The estimation of ancestral ranges supports an ancestral origin of the genus in a combined region encompassing Australia and New Guinea with subsequent colonizations of New Caledonia out of New Guinea in the mid-Miocene. The two New Caledonian lineages have had very different evolutionary trajectories. Colonizers belonging to a clade of foliage dwellers greatly diversified, whereas species inhabiting leaf-litter have been less successful.

Molecular phylogeny of the aquatic beetle family Noteridae (Coleoptera: Adephaga) with an emphasis on data partitioning strategies.

The first molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for the aquatic beetle family Noteridae is inferred using DNA sequence data from five gene fragments (mitochondrial and nuclear): COI, H3, 16S, 18S, and 28S. Our analysis is the most comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction of Noteridae to date, and includes 53 species representing all subfamilies, tribes and 16 of the 17 genera within the family. We examine the impact of data partitioning on phylogenetic inference by comparing two different algorithm-based partitioning strategies: one using predefined subsets of the dataset, and another recently introduced method, which uses the k-means algorithm to iteratively divide the dataset into clusters of sites evolving at similar rates across sampled loci. We conducted both maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses using these different partitioning schemes. Resulting trees are strongly incongruent with prior classifications of Noteridae. We recover variant tree topologies and support values among the implemented partitioning schemes. Bayes factors calculated with marginal likelihoods of Bayesian analyses support a priori partitioning over k-means and unpartitioned data strategies. Our study substantiates the importance of data partitioning in phylogenetic inference, and underscores the use of comparative analyses to determine optimal analytical strategies. Our analyses recover Noterini Thomson to be paraphyletic with respect to three other tribes. The genera Suphisellus Crotch and Hydrocanthus Say are also recovered as paraphyletic. Following the results of the preferred partitioning scheme, we here propose a revised classification of Noteridae, comprising two subfamilies, three tribes and 18 genera. The following taxonomic changes are made: Notomicrinae sensu n. (= Phreatodytinae syn. n.) is expanded to include the tribe Phreatodytini; Noterini sensu n. (= Neohydrocoptini syn. n., Pronoterini syn. n., Tonerini syn. n.) is expanded to include all genera of the Noterinae; The genus Suphisellus Crotch is expanded to include species of Pronoterus Sharp syn. n.; and the former subgenus Sternocanthus Guignot stat. rev. is resurrected from synonymy and elevated to genus rank.