<p>North American <i>Speyeria </i>butterflies are a group whose species hypotheses are confounded by shared wing color patterns between sympatric populations of closely related recognized species due to a putatively recent origin in evolutionary time. Previous studies of this group and the closely related Palearctic genus <i>Argynnis</i>, suggest that <i>Speyeria </i>is monophyletic but derived from within <i>Argynnis</i>. Sampling in these studies has either involved few basal <i>Speyeria</i> species, or too few <i>Argynnis</i> species (Simonsen 2006, Simonsen <i>et al. </i>2006). Thus, no comprehensive phylogenetic analysis exists for all members that answers the question of monophyly of <i>Speyeria</i>, or other subgeneric taxa,and their relationship to <i>Argynnis </i>species. A phylogenetic analysis was completed of all North American <i>Speyeria </i>species and nearly all species within <i>Argynnis</i>, using one mitochondrial (CO1) and four nuclear genes (EF1?, WG, GAPDH, and RPS5). The results indicate that North American <i>Speyeria</i> is a monophyletic group, but that Palearctic <i>Argynnis</i> is paraphyletic. Three major lineages are identified within <i>Argynnis sensu lato</i>: two Palearctic and one containing both Palearctic and Nearctic species. <i>Argynnis</i> species representing the subgenera <i>Argyreus</i>, <i>Argyronome</i>, <i>Childrena</i>, <i>Damora</i>,<i> Pandoriana, </i>and <i>Nephargynnis</i>, belong to a well-supported lineage that split early in the evolution of the group and is comprised of species with long branches. <i>Fabriciana</i> and <i>Mesoacidalia</i> were both recovered as strongly supported lineages, except for <i>A. clara</i> which was recovered as sister to <i>Speyeria</i>. In summary, the phylogenetic analyses suggest the need for reorganization into three genera: <i>Argynnis</i>, <i>Fabriciana</i>, and <i>Speyeria</i>. The results have implications for the conservation of these butterflies across the temperate zone by providing a framework for understanding potential gene flow between sympatric species complexes, proper taxonomic validity, and the natural history of threatened populations of <i>Speyeria </i>and <i>Argynnis </i>butterflies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10044701 |
| Date | 29 March 2016 |
| Creators | de Moya, Robert S. |
| Publisher | University of the Pacific |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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