Montane diversification as a mechanism of speciation in neotropical butterflies.

The mountains in the Atlantic Forest domain are environments that harbor a high biodiversity, including species adapted to colder climates that were probably influenced by the climatic variations of the Pleistocene. To understand the phylogeographic pattern and assess the taxonomic boundaries between two sister montane species, a genomic study of the butterflies Actinote mantiqueira and A. alalia (Nymphalidae: Acraeini) was conducted. Analyses based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial gene COI (barcode region) failed to recover any phylogenetic or genetic structure discriminating the two species or sampling localities. However, single nucleotide polymorphisms gathered using Genotyping-by-Sequencing provided a strong isolation pattern in all analyses (genetic distance, phylogenetic hypothesis, clustering analyses, and F ST statistics) which is consistent with morphology, separating all individuals of A. alalia from all populations of A. mantiqueira. The three sampled mountain ranges where A. mantiqueira populations occur-Serra do Mar, Serra da Mantiqueira, and Poços de Caldas Plateau-were identified as three isolated clusters. Paleoclimate simulations indicate that both species' distributions changed according to climatic oscillations in the Pleistocene period, with the two species potentially occurring in areas of lower altitude during glacial periods when compared to the interglacial periods (as the present). Besides, a potential path between their distribution through the Serra do Mar Mountain range was inferred. Therefore, the Pleistocene climatic fluctuation had a significant impact on the speciation process between A. alalia and A. mantiqueira, which was brought on by isolation at different mountain summits during interglacial periods, as shown by the modeled historical distribution and the observed genetic structure.

A New and Rare Actinote Hübner (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae: Acraeini) from Southeastern Brazil.

The present paper describes a new species of Actinote (Nymphalidae, Heliconiinae, Acraeini), Actinote keithbrowni Freitas, Francini & Mielke sp. nov., from southeastern Brazil, based on morphological and molecular data. The new species is very similar in wing pattern to Actinote eberti, within what we term the "light-gray mimicry complex." The host plants and immature stages of the new species are unknown. Actinote keithbrowni sp. nov. is one of the rarest species of Actinote from Brazil: in total, only eight individuals of this species are known from a narrow region of the Itatiaia massif despite years of collecting effort in that region since the 1940s.

A new species of Actinote Hübner (Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae: Acraeini) from southeast Brazil

Abstract The present paper describes a new species of Actinote (Nymphalidae, Heliconiinae, Acraeini) from southeastern Brazil, and describes the morphology of the adults and immature stages of this species. Actinote mantiqueira sp. nov. occurs in the Serra da Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar in the Atlantic Forest. Adults from this population are very similar to other species of the "orangish red mimicry complex", including Actinote alalia (C. Felder & R. Felder, 1860), its sister species, restricted to the mountains of southern Brazil. Actinote mantiqueira sp. nov. and A. alalia are distinguishable by wing pattern, male genitalia and larval morphology, and have strongly allopatric distributions. A redescription of Actinote alalia is also provided.