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

Abstract

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.

A global molecular phylogeny yields insights into the dispersal and invasion history ofJunonia, a butterfly genus with remarkable dispersal abilities

“…The sister clade to Junonia differs between mitochondrial and nuclear analyses. The mitogenome sister clade contains the genera Protogoniomorpha, Yoma and Salamis, with Salamis as the outgroup to the other two genera, consistent with some prior phylogenetic analyses [3,[24][25][26]. Pyrcz et al [25] found genus Salamis embedded within Junonia.…”

“…The clade defined by the oldest node within the Junoniini (figures 2 and 3) contains the monophyletic genera Precis and Hypolimnas, as reported previously [3,24,25]. The sister clade to Junonia differs between mitochondrial and nuclear analyses.…”

“…Mallika jacksoni and Catacroptera cloanthe are assigned to tribe Kallimini as expected, but Kallima paralekta clusters with tribe Kallimoidini within subfamily Nymphalinae (figure 3). The clade defined by the oldest node within the Junoniini (figures 2 and 3) contains the monophyletic genera Precis and Hypolimnas, as reported previously [3,24,25]. The sister clade to Junonia differs between mitochondrial and nuclear analyses.…”

“…Pyrcz et al . [ 25 ] found genus Salamis embedded within Junonia . Our rRNA repeat phylogeny shows Salamis as sister to genus Junonia (posterior probability value of 0.99), with the next further outgroup containing the genera Yoma and Protogoniomorpha .…”

“…Morphology-based taxonomic assignments have become easier owing to recent clarification of New World species taxonomy [6,7,17,[20][21][22][23], but remain challenging for reasons described above, and owing to poorly described, undescribed and cryptic Junonia species [20,23]. In general, Junonia phylogenetic studies have either contained very few (≤3) New World species [9,24,25], or (≤2) Old World species [19,23]. Further, some phylogenetic studies of New World taxa have included GenBank sequences labelled as either Junonia evarete or Junonia genoveva, but in the absence of museum vouchers it is unclear if the source-specimens were correctly identified or if they belong to one of six other potential Junonia species [6,[16][17][18][19].…”