@article {22412, title = {Identifying key threats to a refugial population of an endangered Hawaiian moth}, journal = {Insect Conservation and Diversity}, volume = {??}, year = {2021}, month = {11/2021}, pages = {???-???}, type = {Early view}, chapter = {??}, abstract = {

\"1. The dramatic worldwide decline in insect biodiversity has highlighted the need for insect conservation. However, management is hindered by incomplete knowledge of what drives species mortality. Even when drivers are identified, it can be difficult to quantify their effects.
2. Using data from six naturally occurring cohorts observed over 2 years, we created partial ecological life tables for Blackburn\’s sphinx moth, Manduca blackburni, a federally listed endangered moth endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. We identified mortality factors impacting eggs and quantified mortality for both eggs and larvae of M. blackburni.
3. Life table analysis demonstrated that total mortality was above 99\%, highlighting the severe threats faced by this critically endangered species. Disappearance, likely driven by invasive ants, and predation were the two primary causes of egg mortality. While egg mortality contributed the most to total mortality, apparent mortality was high for all developmental stages observed, indicating substantial risk throughout the moth\’s pre-adult life cycle.
4. Our results show that M. blackburni likely experiences unsustainably high mortality across its pre-pupal life stages and highlight the dangers invasive predators pose for the focal species and na\ïve species in general. The threats facing M. blackburni may bear directly on other declining insect species and their management. Future conservation efforts should focus on mitigating the impacts of invasive ants and other arthropod predators to promote species recovery for this charismatic Hawaiian endemic.\"

}, keywords = {CONSERVATION, HAWAII, LIFE TABLE ANALYSIS, MANDUCA, PARASITOIDS, PREDATION, SPHINGIDAE, USA}, doi = {10.1111/icad.12553}, url = { https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12553}, author = {Elliott, C.H. and Gillett, C.P.D.T. and Parsons, E. and Wright, M.G. and Rubinoff, D.} } @article {22185, title = {Ghosts of glaciers and the disjunct distribution of a threatened California moth (Euproserpinus euterpe)}, year = {2015}, abstract = {

\"The Kern Primrose Sphinx moth (Euproserpinus euterpe) is a threatened moth twice thought to have gone extinct. It was historically known only from a small basin in the southern Sierra Nevada of California, but a new putative population was recently discovered 115 km to the west. Analysis of both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA suggest discontinuous genetic breaks between the Kern Primrose Sphinx, its closest relative the Phaeton Sphinx (Euproserpinus phaeton), and at least one additional species discovered during the course of this study. Geographic distance is well correlated with genetic distance within species, but not between species. Genetic discontinuities show the influence of past glacial events and suggest recent range expansions, though not always congruent with other phylogeographic studies from the region. Our phylogeographic results demonstrate that past glacial events, the altitudinal suppression of suitable habitat, and isolation may have been more important than population-level ecological factors such as differences in habitat (e.g. sand dunes, oak forest, montane grasslands) in promoting speciation. Effective conservation of the genetic diversity of the widespread Phaeton Sphinx and its two geographically restricted relatives requires genetic data at the population level because relatively few localized populations harbor most of the genetic variation.\"

}, keywords = {BIOGEOGRAPHY, COI, CONSERVATION, DNA, EF-1ALPHA, EUPROSERPINUS, GLACIATION, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, PHYLOGEOGRAPHY, POPULATION GENETICS, SPHINGIDAE, STATISTICAL PARSIMONY, USA, WORLDMAP1}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.01.023}, author = {Rubinoff, D. and San Jose, M. and Johnson, P. and Wells, R. and Osborne, K. and Le Roux, J.J.} } @article {22123, title = {In and out of America: ecological and species diversity in Holarctic giant silkmoths suggests unusual dispersal, defying the dogma of an Asian origin}, journal = {Journal of Biogeography}, volume = {47}, year = {2020}, pages = {903-914}, chapter = {903}, abstract = {

\"Aim: There is growing evidence that the North Atlantic Land Bridge may have had a significant, underappreciated, role in structuring northern hemispheric biodiversity. Understanding the biogeography of less vagile animals with specific habitat requirements could provide fine-scale information about the duration and environmental conditions of both the North Atlantic Land Bridge and the Bering Land Bridge.
Location: Asia, Europe and North America.
Taxon: Saturnia giant silkmoths. The genus has a relictual distribution from the Neogene, with species and subgenera endemic to subregions across the Northern Hemisphere.
Methods: We sequenced six genes totalling 4,674 base pairs from representatives of all subgenera and augmented this with publicly available COI sequences to build a dataset covering 34 Saturnia species\—about half of the described species. Datasets were subjected to phylogenetic, molecular dating and biogeographic analyses.
Results: We found that adding a \‘jump\’ parameter to a dispersal\–extinction\–cladogenesis (DEC) model results in contradictory biogeographic inferences, with the jump dispersal model being more biologically plausible for Saturnia. We found that Saturnia has a much earlier origin in North America than previously thought, and from there colonized Europe. The most parsimonious scenario involves a relatively recent (19.6\–11.7 Ma) transit across the North Atlantic Land Bridge, and subsequent dispersal across all of Eurasia. Without jump dispersal, Saturnia biogeography requires complex patterns of in situ extinction and recolonization followed by bursts of dispersal and speciation.
Main conclusions: Although it is difficult to verify the appropriate model through fossil data or tectonic histories, allowing jump dispersal in Saturnia moth biogeography invokes far fewer assumptions and indicates the use of both Beringia and the North Atlantic Land Bridge, suggesting the importance of the latter for other groups may be underestimated.\"

}, keywords = {AGAPEMA, BERINGIA, BIOGEOGRAPHY, CACHOSATURNIA, CAD, CALOSATURNIA, CATALOGUE, COI, DNA, EF-1ALPHA, IDH, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, NEORIS, NORTH ATLANTIC LAND BRIDGE, PERISOMENA, PHYLOGENY, RINACA, RpS5, SATURNIA, SATURNIIDAE, WINGLESS}, author = {Rubinoff, D. and Doorenweerd, C.} } @article {22123, title = {Systematics and biogeography reciprocally illuminate taxonomic revisions in the silkmoth genus Saturnia (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)}, journal = {Journal of the Lepidopterists{\textquoteright} Society}, volume = {74}, year = {2020}, pages = {1-6}, chapter = {1}, abstract = {

\"The Holarctic Saturniid genus Saturnia contains eight subgenera, though their taxonomic ranks have been in flux for decades. A prior biogeographic analysis with a six gene molecular phylogeny of Saturnia including 34 species and representatives of all but one subgenus supports distinct divisions that require taxonomic changes to accurately reflect their biology and phylogeography. In the current study, we add more publicly available COI sequence data to the previous dataset, and include all subgenera, which resulted in a dataset with approximately 67 species. Based on inferred phylogenies of the 34-species and 67-species datasets as well as the biogeographic analyses, we propose to elevate six subgenera to genus level: Agapema Neumoegen \& Dyar 1894 stat. rev., Cachosaturnia Naumann, L\öffler \& N\ässig 2012 stat. nov., Calosaturnia Smith 1886 stat. rev., Neoris Moore 1862 stat. rev., Perisomena Walker 1855 stat. rev., Rinaca Walker 1855 stat. rev. Additionally, we synonymize Eudia Jordan 1911 syn. nov. with Saturnia Schrank 1802 because it renders Saturnia paraphyletic, and confirm the previous synonymization of Eriogyna Jordan 1911 with Saturnia and of Caligula Moore 1862 with Rinaca Walker 1855. With these changes, molecular phylogeny and biogeographic analysis has informed taxonomy of a prominent, but poorly-understood group and revealed how the complex biogeography and active biotic exchange across the northern hemisphere has promoted diversification in previously unrecognized groups.\"

}, keywords = {AGAPEMA, BERINGIA, BIOGEOGRAPHY, CACHOSATURNIA, CAD, CALOSATURNIA, CATALOGUE, COI, DNA, EF-1ALPHA, IDH, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, NEORIS, NORTH ATLANTIC LAND BRIDGE, PERISOMENA, PHYLOGENY, RINACA, RpS5, SATURNIA, SATURNIIDAE, WINGLESS}, author = {Rubinoff, D. and Doorenweerd, C.} } @article {21876, title = {Phylogenomics supports incongruence between ecological specialization and taxonomy in a charismatic clade of buck moths}, journal = {Molecular Ecology}, volume = {27}, year = {2018}, month = {11/2018}, pages = {4417-4429}, chapter = {4417}, abstract = {

\"Local adaptation can be a fundamental component of speciation, but its dynamics in relation to gene flow are not necessarily straightforward. Herbivorous taxa with localized host plant or habitat specialization across their geographic range are ideal models for investigating the patterns and constraints of local adaptation and its impact on diversification. The charismatic, day-flying moths of the Hemileuca maia species complex (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) are such taxa, as they are geographically widespread, exhibit considerable ecological and morphological variability and host and habitat specificity, but apparently lack genetic differentiation across their range. Here, we use genomewide single nucleotide polymorphisms to assess relationships and population structure of this group across North America and investigate the scales where genomic divergence correlates with adaptive ecological characteristics. In contrast to previous genetic studies of the group, we find broad-and fine-scale genetic differentiation between lineages, which is at odds with various levels of taxonomic description and recognition of conservation units. Furthermore, ecological specialization only explains some fine-scale genetic differentiation, and across much of the group\’s range, local adaptation is apparently occurring in the face of strong gene flow. These results provide unprecedented insight into drivers of speciation in this group, the relationship between taxonomy and genomics-informed species boundaries and conservation management of internationally protected entities. Broadly, this system provides a model for understanding how local adaptation in an herbivore can arise and be maintained in the face of apparently strong gene flow, and the importance of geographic isolation in generating genomic divergence, despite a lack of ecological divergence.\"

}, keywords = {ADAPTATION, CANADA, CONSERVATION, ddRAD, DNA, FOODPLANT EVOLUTION, FOODPLANT SPECIFICITY, HEMILEUCA, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, PHYLOGENOMICS, POPULATION BIOLOGY, SATURNIIDAE, SPECIATION, SPECIES DELIMITATION, USA}, doi = {10.1111/mec.14883}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.14883}, author = {Dupuis, J.R. and Peigler, R.S. and Geib, S.M. and Rubinoff, D.} } @article {21735, title = {Hawaiian Lepidoptera represent remarkable diversity that is disappearing before it can be discovered}, journal = {News of the Lepidopterists{\textquoteright} Society}, volume = {59}, year = {2017}, month = {11/2017}, pages = {202-204}, chapter = {202}, keywords = {EXTINCTION, FOODPLANT, HAWAII, MANDUCA, SPHINGIDAE, TINOSTOMA, USA}, author = {Rubinoff, D.} } @article {21524, title = {Multi-gene phylogeny of the Hemileuca maia complex (Saturniidae) across North America suggests complex phylogeography and rapid ecological diversification}, journal = {Systematic Entomology}, volume = {42}, year = {2017}, month = {10/2017}, pages = {621-634}, chapter = {621}, abstract = {

\"The Hemileuca maia species complex occurs across the North American continent and consists of six named taxa, and several others that were recently synonymized. Taxa exhibit a wide span of adult flight periods, dramatic shifts in host-plant use and occur in a range of habitats, all of which would suggest unrecognized diversity. We used one mitochondrial and three nuclear genes to generate 3900 bp per individual, including samples from every ecotype in the species group across the United States from New England to central Florida to California. We assessed phylogenetic relationships using both maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic methods. Results suggest very low levels of divergence across most of the continent and low levels of genetic structure \– even between some recognized species that maintain clear ecological difference in sympatry. Our results suggest that meaningful and localized ecological divergence may occur in the absence of easily recognizable genetic divergence, due to either ongoing gene flow or the recent diversification in the group.\"

}, keywords = {BAYESIAN INFERENCE, CAD, COI, DNA, EF-1ALPHA, FOODPLANT, HAPLOTYPE NETWORKS, HEMILEUCA, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, PHYLOGENY, PHYLOGEOGRAPHY, POPULATION BIOLOGY, RpS5, SATURNIIDAE, USA}, doi = {10.1111/syen.12235}, author = {Rubinoff, D. and San Jose, M. and Peigler, R.S.} } @article {21055, title = {Daphnis placida, a new species of sphinx moth for Guam, U.S.A.}, journal = {Proceedinngs of the Hawaiian Entomological Society}, volume = {47}, year = {2015}, month = {12/2015}, pages = {79-81}, chapter = {79}, keywords = {DAPHNIS, GUAM, INVASIVE SPECIES, WORLDMAP1}, url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10125/38676}, author = {Rubinoff, D. and Kitching, I.} } @article {19852, title = {Evidence of repeated and independent saltational evolution in a peculiar genus of sphinx moths (Proserpinus: Sphingidae)}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {3}, year = {2008}, month = {2008}, pages = {e4035}, chapter = {e4035}, abstract = {

\"Background: Saltational evolution in which a particular lineage undergoes relatively rapid, significant, and unparalleled change as compared with its closest relatives is rarely invoked as an alternative model to the dominant paradigm of gradualistic evolution. Identifying saltational events is an important first-step in assessing the importance of this discontinuous model in generating evolutionary novelty. We offer evidence for three independent instances of saltational evolution in a charismatic moth genus with only eight species.

Methodology/Principal Findings: Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian search criteria offered congruent, well supported phylogenies based on 1,965 base pairs of DNA sequence using the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit I, and the nuclear genes elongation factor-1 alpha and wingless. Using a comparative methods approach, we examined three taxa exhibiting novelty in the form of Batesian mimicry, host plant shift, and dramatic physiological differences in light of the phylogenetic data. All three traits appear to have evolved relatively rapidly and independently in three different species of Proserpinus. Each saltational species exhibits a markedly different and discrete example of discontinuous trait evolution while remaining canalized for other typical traits shared by the rest of the genus. All three saltational taxa show insignificantly different levels of overall genetic change as compared with their congeners, implying that their divergence is targeted to particular traits and not genome-wide.

Conclusions/Significance: Such rapid evolution of novel traits in individual species suggests that the pace of evolution can be quick, dramatic, and isolated\—even on the species level. These results may be applicable to other groups in which specific taxa have generated pronounced evolutionary novelty. Genetic mechanisms and methods for assessing such relatively rapid changes are postulated.\"

}, keywords = {ARCTONOTUS, BIOGEOGRAPHY, COI, DISPERSAL, DNA, EF-1ALPHA, FOODPLANT EVOLUTION, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, MIMICRY, PARSIMONY, PHENOLOGY, PHYLOGENY, PROSERPINUS, RELATIVE RATE TEST, SALTATIONAL EVOLUTION, SPHINGIDAE, WINGLESS}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0004035}, author = {Rubinoff, D. and Le Roux, J.J.} } @article {19854, title = {Phylogenetics and species status of Hawai{\textquoteleft}i{\textquoteright}s endangered Blackburn{\textquoteright}s Sphinx Moth, Manduca blackburni (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)}, journal = {Pacific Science}, volume = {66}, year = {2012}, month = {2012}, pages = {31-41}, chapter = {31}, keywords = {BARCODING, CAD, COI, EF-1ALPHA, HAWAII, MANDUCA, PHYLOGENY, SPHINGIDAE, USA, WORLDMAP1}, doi = {10.2984/66.1.2}, author = {Rubinoff, D. and San Jose, M. and Kawahara, A.Y.} } @article {19853, title = {Synonomization [sic] of the euphonious Arctonotus Boisduval, 1852 (Sphingidae: Macroglossinae) based on molecular phylogenetic analysis}, journal = {Journal of the Lepidopterists{\textquoteright} Society}, volume = {63}, year = {2009}, month = {2009}, pages = {233-235}, chapter = {233}, keywords = {ARCTONOTUS, CATALOGUE, COI, EF-1ALPHA, PHYLOGENY, PROSERPINUS, SPHINGIDAE, WINGLESS}, url = {https://images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/2000s/2009/2009-63-4-233.pdf}, author = {Rubinoff, D. and Osborne, K.H. and Kawahara, A.Y.} } @article {19851, title = {Observations of adult and larval behavior in the winter sphingid, Arctonotus lucidus (Sphingidae)}, journal = {Journal of the Lepidopterists{\textquoteright} Society}, volume = {55}, year = {2002}, month = {2002}, pages = {78-79}, chapter = {78}, keywords = {ARCTONOTUS, BEHAVIOUR, FLIGHT PERIOD, FOODPLANT, PHENOLOGY, PHEROMONES, SPHINGIDAE, USA}, url = {https://images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/2000s/2001/2001-55(2)78-Rubinoff.pdf}, author = {Rubinoff, D.} } @article {18694, title = {Evolution of Manduca sexta hornworms and relatives: biogeographical analysis reveals an ancestral diversification in Central America}, journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution}, volume = {68}, year = {2013}, month = {2013}, pages = {381-386}, chapter = {381}, keywords = {BAYESIAN INFERENCE, BIOGEOGRAPHY, CAD, COI, DNA, EF-1ALPHA, MANDUCA, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, PEST, RASP, SPHINGIDAE, WINGLESS}, doi = {10.1016/j.ympev.2013.04.017}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2013.04.017}, author = {Kawahara, A.Y. and Breinholt, J.W. and Ponce, F.V. and Haxaire, J. and Lei, X. and Lamarre, G.P.A. and Rubinoff, D. and Kitching, I.J.} } @article {18532, title = {A revised molecular phylogeny of the globally distributed hawkmoth genus Hyles (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences}, journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution}, volume = {52}, year = {2009}, month = {2009}, pages = {852-865}, chapter = {852}, keywords = {AUSTRALIA, BAYESIAN INFERENCE, BIOGEOGRAPHY, COI, COII, DNA, EF-1ALPHA, HAWAII, HYLES, MADAGASCAR, MTDNA, PHYLOGENY, SPHINGIDAE, TRNA(LEU), WORLDMAP1}, author = {Hundsdoerfer, A.K. and Rubinoff, D. and Atti{\'e}, M. and Wink, M. and Kitching, I.J.} }