Abstract:
The saturniid moth genus Automeris includes 145 described species. Their geographic distribution ranges from the eastern half of North America to as far south as Peru. Automeris moths are cryptically colored, with forewings that resemble dead leaves, and conspicuously colored, elaborate eyespots hidden on their hindwings. Despite their charismatic nature, the evolutionary history and relationships within Automeris and between closely related genera, remain poorly understood. In this study, we present the most comprehensive phylogeny of Automeris to date, including 80 of the 145 described species. We also incorporate two morphologically similar hemileucine genera, Pseudautomeris and Leucanella, as well as a morphologically distinct genus, Molippa. We obtained DNA data from both dry-pinned and ethanol-stored museum specimens and conducted Anchored Hybrid Enrichment (AHE) sequencing to assemble a high-quality dataset for phylogenetic analysis. The resulting phylogeny supports Automeris as a paraphyletic genus, with Leucanella and Pseudautomeris nested within, with the most recent common ancestor dating back to 21 mya. This study lays the foundation for future research on various aspects of Automeris biology, including geographical distribution patterns, potential drivers of speciation, and ecological adaptations such as antipredator defense mechanisms.
摘要:
土星蛾属Automeris包括145个描述的物种。它们的地理分布范围从北美的东半部到南至秘鲁。自体蛾是神秘的颜色,前爪像枯叶,颜色明显,隐藏在后翅上的精致眼点。尽管他们有魅力,Automeris内部以及密切相关的属之间的进化史和关系,仍然知之甚少。在这项研究中,我们介绍了迄今为止最全面的Automeris系统发育,包括所描述的145个物种中的80个。我们还纳入了两个形态相似的半亮氨酸属,假单胞菌和白氏杆菌,以及形态上不同的属,莫里帕.我们从干钉和乙醇储存的博物馆标本中获得了DNA数据,并进行了锚定杂交富集(AHE)测序,以组装高质量的数据集进行系统发育分析。由此产生的系统发育支持Automeris作为共生属,其中嵌套了白氏杆菌和伪自动机,最近的共同祖先可以追溯到21Mya。本研究为今后对自生生物学的各个方面的研究奠定了基础,包括地理分布模式,物种形成的潜在驱动因素,和生态适应,如反捕食者防御机制。