Hermeuptychia, Forster, 1964

Espeland, Marianne, Nakahara, Shinichi, Zacca, Thamara, Barbosa, Eduardo P., Huertas, Blanca, Marín, Mario A., Lamas, Gerardo, Benmesbah, Mohamed, Brévignon, Christian, Casagrande, Mirna M., Fåhraeus, Christer, Grishin, Nick, Kawahara, Akito Y., Mielke, Olaf H. H., Miller, Jacqueline Y., Nakamura, Ichiro, Navas, Vanessa, Patrusky, Brooke, Pyrcz, Tomasz W., Richards, Lindsay, Tan, Denise, Tyler, Stephanie, Viloria, Angel, Warren, Andrew D., Xiao, Lei, Freitas, André V. L. & Willmott, Keith R., 2023, Combining target enrichment and Sanger sequencing data to clarify the systematics of the diverse Neotropical butterfly subtribe Euptychiina (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae), Zoological Research 2023, pp. 1-73 : 11

Hermeuptychia clade

The ‘ Hermeuptychia clade’ is well-supported (FULL dataset 98.8/99) and composed of two genera, Hermeuptychia and Saurona gen.n. ( Figures 5 , S 2 and S 3 ), that superficially look very different. Currently, 18 species of Hermeuptychia and two species of Saurona gen.n. are described, but the actual diversity of the clade is likely to be at least twice as high. Several species of Hermeuptychia have been described recently ( Cong et al., 2021; Cong & Grishin, 2014; Nakahara, Tan, et al., 2016), and there have been multiple recent taxonomic rearrangements ( Cong et al., 2021; Viloria, 2021; Zacca et al., 2021). DNA barcoding data (COI) further suggest the existence of a number of cryptic species ( Seraphim et al., 2014; Tan et al., 2021). Members of the ‘ Hermeuptychia clade’ are relatively small, with the forewing length often less than 20 mm. Apart from a few species, they have sexually monomorphic wing patterns with the females being slightly paler than males. Members of Hermeuptychia are exceptionally uniform and drab in coloration, while Saurona gen.n. contains two colourful described species with rather modified ventral hindwing markings. Possible synapomorphies and distinctive characters for the clade include the following: (a) absence of cephalic horns in all instars of the larvae ( Cong & Grishin, 2014; Cosmo et al., 2014; Janzen & Hallwachs, 2022), remaining to be confirmed in Saurona ; (b) presence of a short, dark dash on VFW between submedial and medial lines, along discocellular veins (not well-marked in some Saurona males). Members of the ‘ Hermeuptychia clade’ range from southern USA to Argentina, and from sea level to almost 3000 m, in a wide variety of habitats, from grasslands to dry forest, rain forest to cloud forest. There is an apparent slight centre of diversity in the western Amazon and east Andean foothills, where half-a-dozen species may be found in sympatry. As is typical for most members of Euptychiina , with the exception of Euptychia , known hostplants for members of this clade are either bamboos or other grasses in the family Poaceae , as well as species of Cyperaceae and Marantaceae ( Beccaloni et al., 2008; Cong & Grishin, 2014; Cosmo et al., 2014; Janzen & Hallwachs, 2022; Murray, 2001b). A number of species also likely utilize non-native grasses as larval hostplants, as evidenced by the abundance of some Hermeuptychia species in highly disturbed habitats, garden lawns and cattle pastures (see also Cong & Grishin, 2014).

Figures

FIGURE 2 Phylogeny of Euptychia based on the FULL dataset. Interpretation of support values can be found in the legend. The scale bars under the butterfly images equal 1 cm.

FIGURE 3 Phylogeny of the Cyllopsis clade based on the FULL dataset. Interpretation of support values can be found in the legend. The scale bars under the butterfly images equal 1 cm.

FIGURE 5 Phylogeny of the Hermeuptychia clade and nearby genera based on the FULL dataset. Interpretation of support values can be found in the legend. The scale bars under the butterfly images equal 1 cm.