BackgroundThe moth family Geometridae (inchworms or loopers), with approximately 23 000 described species, is the second most diverse family of the Lepidoptera. Apart from a few recent attempts based on morphology and molecular studies, the phylogeny of these moths has remained largely uninvestigated.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe performed a rigorous and extensive molecular analysis of eight genes to examine the geometrid affinities in a global context, including a search for its potential sister-taxa. Our maximum likelihood analyses included 164 taxa distributed worldwide, of which 150 belong to the Geometridae. The selected taxa represent all previously recognized subfamilies and nearly 90% of recognized tribes, and originate from all over world. We found the Geometridae to be monophyletic with the Sematuridae+Epicopeiidae clade potentially being its sister-taxon. We found all previously recognized subfamilies to be monophyletic, with a few taxa misplaced, except the Oenochrominae+Desmobathrinae complex that is a polyphyletic assemblage of taxa and the Orthostixinae, which was positioned within the Ennominae. The Sterrhinae and Larentiinae were found to be sister to the remaining taxa, followed by Archiearinae, the polyphyletic assemblage of Oenochrominae+Desmobathrinae moths, Geometrinae and Ennominae.Conclusions/SignificanceOur study provides the first comprehensive phylogeny of the Geometridae in a global context. Our results generally agree with the other, more restricted studies, suggesting that the general phylogenetic patterns of the Geometridae are now well-established. Generally the subfamilies, many tribes, and assemblages of tribes were well supported but their interrelationships were often weakly supported by our data. The Eumeleini were particularly difficult to place in the current system, and several tribes were found to be para- or polyphyletic.

BackgroundDitrysia comprise close to 99 % of all butterflies and moths. The evolutionary relationships among the ditrysian superfamilies have received considerable attention in phylogenetic studies based on DNA and transcriptomic data, but the deepest divergences remain for large parts unresolved or contradictory. To obtain complementary insight into the evolutionary history of the clade, and to test previous hypotheses on the subdivision of Ditrysia based on morphology, we examine the morphology of larvae, pupae and adult males and females of 318 taxa representing nearly all ditrysian superfamilies and families. We present the most comprehensive morphological dataset on Ditrysia to date, consisting of over 500 morphological characters. The data are analyzed alone and combined with sequence data (one mitochondrial and seven nuclear protein-coding gene regions, sequenced from 422 taxa). The full dataset consists of 473 exemplar species. Analyses are performed using maximum likelihood methods, and parsimony methods for the morphological dataset. We explore whether combining morphological data and DNA-data can stabilize taxa that are unstable in phylogenetic studies based on genetic data only.ResultsMorphological characters are found phylogenetically informative in resolving apical nodes (superfamilies and families), but characters serving as evidence of relatedness of larger assemblages are few. Results include the recovery of a monophyletic Tineoidea, Sesioidea and Cossoidea, and a stable position for some unstable taxa (e.g. Epipyropidae, Cyclotornidae, Urodoidea + Schreckensteinioidea). Several such taxa, however, remain unstable even though morphological characters indicate a position in the tree (e.g. Immidae). Evidence supporting affinities between clades are suggested, e.g. a novel larval synapomorphy for Tineidae. We also propose the synonymy of Tineodidae with Alucitidae, syn. nov.ConclusionsThe large morphological dataset provides information on the diversity and distribution of morphological traits in Ditrysia, and can be used in future research on the evolution of these traits, in identification keys and in identification of fossil Lepidoptera. The “backbone” of the phylogeny for Ditrysia remains largely unresolved. As previously proposed as an explanation for the scarcity of molecular signal in resolving the deeper nodes, this may be due to the rapid radiation of Ditrysia in the Cretaceous.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0520-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Abstract.  The phylogenetic relationships of tribes of the geometrid subfamily Sterrhinae (Lepidoptera) were studied, with special emphasis on finding delimiting characters for the tribe Scopulini. Two cladistic analyses were conducted for fifty‐nine species representing all previously recognized Sterrhinae tribes and covering the geographical range of the subfamily. In the first analysis, twelve putative synapomorphies of Scopulini, taken from the literature, were coded for actual specimens in order to test their ability to support the monophyly of the group. The resulting strict consensus cladogram was totally unresolved. In the second analysis, the twelve characters were combined with additional information from the morphology and ecology of adults and immature stages. Analysis of these ninety‐six characters resulted in a well‐resolved cladogram. The tribes were found to be monophyletic, except Cosymbiini and Rhodostrophiini. There are two main lineages within Sterrhinae: Cosymbiini + Rhodometrini + Timandrini and Rhodostrophiini + Cyllopodini + Sterrhini + Scopulini. Aletini and Problepsini lay within the concept of Scopulini. The association of the included Larentiinae taxa with the Cosymbiini + Rhodometrini + Timandrini lineage questions the monophyly of Sterrhinae. A majority of the recovered synapomorphic characters had been recognized previously, but several new phylogenetically informative characters were found, especially from the thorax. No unique characters diagnosing the tribe Scopulini were found, but many homoplastic synapomorphic features were found which diagnose parts of it. All recognized Sterrhinae genera are assigned tentatively to tribes and problematic cases are discussed.

Our study aims to investigate the relationships of the major lineages within the moth family Geometridae, with a focus on the poorly studied Oenochrominae-Desmobathrinae complex, and to translate some of the results into a coherent subfamilial and tribal level classification for the family. We analyzed a molecular dataset of 1,206 Geometroidea terminal taxa from all biogeographical regions comprising up to 11 molecular markers that includes one mitochondrial (COI) and 10 protein-coding nuclear gene regions (wingless, ArgK, MDH, RpS5, GAPDH, IDH, Ca-ATPase, Nex9, EF-1alpha, CAD). The molecular data set was analyzed using maximum likelihood as implemented in IQ-TREE and RAxML. We found high support for the subfamilies Larentiinae, Geometrinae and Ennominae in their traditional scopes. Sterrhinae becomes monophyletic only if Ergavia Walker, Ametris Hübner and Macrotes Westwood, which are currently placed in Oenochrominae, are formally transferred to Sterrhinae. Desmobathrinae and Oenochrominae are found to be polyphyletic. The concepts of Oenochrominae and Desmobathrinae required major revision and, after appropriate rearrangements, these groups also form monophyletic subfamily-level entities. Oenochrominae s.str. as originally conceived by Guenée is phylogenetically distant from Epidesmia and its close relatives. The latter is hereby described as the subfamily Epidesmiinae Murillo-Ramos, Sihvonen & Brehm, subfam. nov. Epidesmiinae are a lineage of “slender-bodied Oenochrominae” that include the genera Ecphyas Turner, Systatica Turner, Adeixis Warren, Dichromodes Guenée, Phrixocomes Turner, Abraxaphantes Warren, Epidesmia Duncan & Westwood and Phrataria Walker. Archiearinae are monophyletic when Dirce and Acalyphes are formally transferred to Ennominae. We also found that many tribes were para- or polyphyletic and therefore propose tens of taxonomic changes at the tribe and subfamily levels. Archaeobalbini stat. rev. Viidalepp (Geometrinae) is raised from synonymy with Pseudoterpnini Warren to tribal rank. Chlorodontoperini Murillo-Ramos, Sihvonen & Brehm, trib. nov. and Drepanogynini Murillo-Ramos, Sihvonen & Brehm, trib. nov. are described as new tribes in Geometrinae and Ennominae, respectively.