@article {23079, title = {Revision of the genus Rhagastis Rothschild \& Jordan, 1903 (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) from China, based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses}, journal = {Insects}, volume = {15}, year = {2024}, month = {15/5/2024}, pages = {359}, chapter = {359}, abstract = {

\"Here, the taxonomy of the genus Rhagastis Rothschild \& Jordan, 1903 (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae, Macroglossinae, Macroglossini) from China is revised based on differences in wing morphology, male and female genitalia, and the phylogenetic relationship of the DNA barcodes. Subspecies of Rhagastis albomarginatus (Rothschild, 1894) and R. castor (Walker, 1856) are treated as \“good\” species, namely Rhagastis dichroae Mell, 1922 stat. nov.; R. everetti Rothschild \& Jordan, 1903 stat. nov.; R. aurifera (Butler, 1875) stat. rev.; R. chinensis Mell, 1922 stat. nov.; R. formosana Clark, 1925 stat. nov.; and R. jordani Oberth\ür, 1904 stat. rev. The distribution maps, biological notes, and ecological records of the genus Rhagastis Rothschild \& Jordan, 1903 from China are given, and a species inventory of genus Rhagastis in the world is also included.\"

}, keywords = {BARCODING, CATALOGUE, CHINA, COI, DNA, FEMALE GENITALIA, MALE GENITALIA, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, PHYLOGENY, RHAGASTIS, SPHINGIDAE, WORLDMAP1}, doi = {10.3390/ insects15050359}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/ insects15050359}, author = {Jiang, Z.-H. and Wang, J.-X. and Xu, Z.-B. and Kitching, I.J. and Huang, C.-L. and Hu, S.-J. and Xiao, Y.-L.} } @article {23072, title = {Review of the Narrow-Banded Hawkmoth, Neogurelca montana (Rothschild \& Jordan, 1915) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) in China, with morphological and phylogenetic analysis}, journal = {Insects}, volume = {14}, year = {2023}, month = {16/10/2023}, pages = {818}, chapter = {818}, abstract = {

\"Neogurelca montana (Rothschild \& Jordan, 1915) is a species of the genus Neogurelca Hogenes \& Treadaway, 1993, that was previously known from Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet, China. Recently, however, this species was also found in Beijing and Hebei. These populations differ from those in southwest China in body colour and the shape of the yellow patches of the hindwing\—a paler body colour and triangular patches in the former and darker body colour and fan-like patches in the latter. Wing morphology, male and female genitalia, and molecular evidence (DNA barcodes) were analysed for the different localities of this species and three other Neogurelca species\—N. hyas, N. himachala, and N. masuriensis. Our molecular data support the Beijing population of montana as a valid subspecies, which we describe as N. montana taihangensis ssp. nov. Wing and genital morphology confirm the molecular conclusions. We also collected larvae of the new subspecies in the Beijing suburbs and describe its life history and larval hosts and compare them with those of N. himachala.\"

}, keywords = {BARCODING, BAYESIAN INFERENCE, CAMOUFLAGE, CATALOGUE, CHINA, COI, DNA, FEMALE GENITALIA, FOODPLANT, IMMATURE STAGES, LIFE HISTORY, MALE GENITALIA, NEOGURELCA, SPHINGIDAE, WORLDMAP1}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14100818}, author = {Xu, Z.-B. and He, J.-B. and Yang, N. and Kitching, I.J. and Hu, S.-J.} } @article {22715, title = {Characterization of seventeen complete mitochondrial genomes: structural features and phylogenetic implications of the lepidopteran insects}, journal = {Insects}, volume = {13}, year = {2022}, month = {10/2022}, pages = {998}, chapter = {998}, abstract = {

\"Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) are widely distributed in the world, but high-level phylogeny in Lepidoptera remains uncertain. More mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) data can help to conduct comprehensive analysis and construct a robust phylogenetic tree. Here, we sequenced and annotated 17 complete moth mitogenomes and made comparative analysis with other moths. The gene order of trnM-trnI-trnQ in 17 moths was different from trnI-trnQ-trnM of ancestral insects. The number, type, and order of genes were consistent with reported moths. The length of newly sequenced complete mitogenomes ranged from 14,231 bp of Rhagastis albomarginatus to 15,756 bp of Numenes albofascia. These moth mitogenomes were typically with high A+T contents varied from 76.0\% to 81.7\% and exhibited negative GC skews. Among 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), some unusual initiations and terminations were found in part of newly sequenced moth mitogenomes. Three conserved gene-overlapping regions and one conserved intergenic region were detected among 17 mitogenomes. The phylogenetic relationship of major superfamilies in Macroheterocera was as follows: (Bombycoidea + Lasiocampoidea) + ((Drepanoidea + Geometroidea) + Noctuoidea)), which was different from previous studies. Moreover, the topology of Noctuoidea as (Notodontidae + (Erebidae + Noctuidae)) was supported by high Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP = 1.0) and bootstrapping values (BSV = 100). This study greatly enriched the mitogenome database of moth and strengthened the high-level phylogenetic relationships of Lepidoptera.\"

}, keywords = {BAYESIAN INFERENCE, BOMBYCOIDEA, DNA, DOLBINA, LASIOCAMPIDAE, LEPIDOPTERA, MITOGENOME, PARALEBEDA, PHYLLOSPHINGIA, PHYLOGENY, RHAGASTIS, SPHINGIDAE}, doi = {10.3390/insects13110998}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13110998}, author = {Cheng, M. and Liu, Y. and Zheng, X. and Zhang, R. and Feng, K. and Yue, B. and Du, C. and Zhou, C.} } @article {22657, title = {Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of eight diurnal hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae): new insights into the origin and evolution of diurnalism in sphingids}, journal = {Insects}, volume = {13}, year = {2022}, month = {09/2022}, pages = {887}, chapter = {887}, abstract = {

\"We newly sequenced the mitochondrial genomes of 22 species from three subfamilies in the family Sphingidae. The mitogenomes of six diurnal species were newly sequenced, assembled, and annotated in this study (Hemaris radians, Macroglossum bombylans, Macroglossum fritzei, Macroglossum pyrrhosticta, Neogurelca himachala, and Sataspes xylocoparis) and, together with those of two previously reported diurnal hawkmoths (Cephonodes hylas and Macroglossum stellatarum), were analyzed in terms of sequence length, nucleotide composition, relative synonymous codon usage, non-synonymous/synonymous substitution ratio, gene spacing, and repeat sequences. The phylogenetic relationships among the subfamilies of Sphingidae were analyzed to explore the origin divergence time, and evolutionary status of diurnal sphingids. In addition, we performed divergence time estimation and reconstruction of ancestral characters. Diurnal behavior of hawkmoths first originated 29.19 million years ago (Mya) and may have been influenced by the combination of herbaceous flourishing, which occurred 26\–28 Mya, the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, and the large-scale evolution of bats in the Oligocene to Pre-Miocene. Moreover, diurnalism in hawkmoths had multiple independent origins.\"

}, keywords = {ANCESTRAL STATE RECONSTRUCTION, BIOGEOGRAPHY, CEPHONODES, CHINA, DIURNALISM, HEMARIS, MACROGLOSSUM, MITOGENOME, MTDNA, NEOGURELCA, PHYLOGENY, SATASPES, SPHINGIDAE}, doi = {10.3390/insects13100887}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13100887}, author = {Huang, Y.-X. and Xing, Z.-P. and Zhang, H. and Xu, Z.-B. and Tao, L.-L. and Hu, H.-Y. and Kitching, I.J. and Wang, X.} } @article {22555, title = {Exploring large-scale patterns of genetic variation in the COI gene among Insecta: implications for DNA barcoding and threshold-based species delimitation studies}, journal = {Insects}, volume = {13}, year = {2022}, month = {04/2022}, pages = {425}, chapter = {425}, abstract = {

\"The genetic variation in the COI gene has had a great effect on the final results of species delimitation studies. However, little research has comprehensively investigated the genetic divergence in COI among Insecta. The fast-growing COI data in BOLD provide an opportunity for the comprehensive appraisal of the genetic variation in COI among Insecta. We calculated the K2P distance of 64,414 insect species downloaded from BOLD. The match ratios of the clustering analysis, based on different thresholds, were also compared among 4288 genera (35,068 species). The results indicate that approximately one-quarter of the species of Insecta showed high intraspecific genetic variation (\>3\%), and a conservative estimate of this proportion ranges from 12.05\% to 22.58\%. The application of empirical thresholds (e.g., 2\% and 3\%) in the clustering analysis may result in the overestimation of the species diversity. If the minimum interspecific genetic distance of the congeneric species is greater than or equal to 2\%, it is possible to avoid overestimating the species diversity on the basis of the empirical thresholds. In comparison to the fixed thresholds, the \“threshOpt\” and \“localMinima\” algorithms are recommended for the provision of a reference threshold for threshold-based species delimitation studies.\"

}, keywords = {BARCODING, COI, DNA, INSECTA, SPECIES DELIMITATION}, doi = {10.3390/insects13050425}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13050425}, author = {Zhang, H. and Bu, W.} } @article {22410, title = {The Filippi{\textquoteright}s glands of giant silk moths: to be or not to be?}, journal = {Insects}, volume = {12}, year = {2021}, month = {11/2021}, pages = {1040}, chapter = {1040}, abstract = {

\"The Filippi\’s glands (FGs), formerly \“Lyonet\’s glands\”, are paired accessory organs associated with the silk glands. They are unique to Lepidoptera caterpillars and their exact role is not clear. The FGs are thought to be involved in the construction of a silk cocoon in bombycoid moths. FGs can differ in size and shape, therefore, in this study we attempt to find a correlation between FG morphology and phylogenetic position within the Bombycoidea. We use light and electron microscopy to examine the presence and morphology of FGs in a range of wild (giant) silk moths and several related species. Our results confirm that the majority of studied silk moth species have complex type of FGs that continuously increase in size during larval development. We identified several species of giant silk moths and two hawk moth species that completely lack FGs throughout their larval development. Finally, in several hawk moth species in which FGs are well developed during the first larval stage, these glands do not grow and remain small during later larval growth. Our results suggest that FGs are not critical for spinning and that loss of FGs occurred several times during the evolution of saturniids and sphingids. Comparison of FGs in different moths is an important first step in the elucidation of their physiological significance.\"

}, keywords = {ACHERONTIA, ACTIAS, AGLIA, ANTHERAEA, ANTHERINA, ATTACUS, BOMBYX, CALLOSAMIA, DAPHNIS, FILIPPI{\textquoteright}S GLANDS, FOODPLANT, HYALOPHORA, HYLES, IMMATURE MORPHOLOGY, MIMAS, NUDAURELIA, PYRALIDAE, SAMIA, SATURNIIDAE, SILK, SMERINTHUS, SPHINGIDAE, SPHINX, TELEA}, doi = {10.3390/insects12111040}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12111040}, author = {Sehadova, H. and Zavodska, R. and Zurovec, M. and Sauman, I.} }