Sterrhinae Meyrick, 1892

Murillo-Ramos, Leidys, Brehm, Gunnar, Sihvonen, Pasi, Hausmann, Axel, Holm, Sille, Ghanavi, Hamid Reza, Õunap, Erki, Truuverk, Andro, Staude, Hermann, Friedrich, Egbert, Tammaru, Toomas & Wahlberg, Niklas, 2019, A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Geometridae (Lepidoptera) with a focus on enigmatic small subfamilies, PeerJ 7, pp. 1-39 : 18

Sterrhinae Meyrick, 1892

We included 74 Sterrhinae taxa in our analyses, with all tribes recognized in Forum Herbulot (2007) being represented. The recovered patterns generally agree with previous phylogenetic hypotheses of the subfamily ( Sihvonen & Kaila, 2004, Sihvonen et al., 2011). The genera Ergavia Walker, 1866 , Ametris Guenée, 1858 and Macrotes Westwood, 1841 , which currently are placed in Oenochrominae were found to form a well-defined lineage within Sterrhinae with strong support (SH-Like = 99 UFBoot2 = 100). These genera are distributed in the New World, whereas the range of true Oenochrominae is restricted to the Australian and Oriental Regions. Sihvonen et al. (2011) already found that Ergavia and Afrophyla Warren, 1895 belong to Sterrhinae and suggested more extensive analyses to clarify the position of these genera, which we did. Afrophyla was transferred to Sterrhinae by Sihvonen & Staude (2011) and Ergavia , Ametris and Macrotes (plus Almodes Guenée, (1858)) will be transferred by P. Sihvonen et al. (2019, unpublished data).

Cosymbiini , Timandrini , Rhodometrini and Lythriini are closely related as shown previously ( Sihvonen & Kaila, 2004; Õunap, Viidalepp & Saarma, 2008; Sihvonenetal ., 2011). Cosymbiini appear as sister to the Timandrini + Traminda Saalmüller, 1891 + Pseudosterrha Warren, 1888 and Rhodometrini + Lythriini clade. Lythriini are closely related to Rhodometrini as shown by Õunap, Viidalepp & Saarma (2008) with both molecular and morphological data. Traminda (Timandrini) and Pseudosterrha (Cosymbiini) grouped together forming a lineage that is sister to the Rhodometrini + Lythriini clade ( Fig. 2 ).

Rhodostrophiini and Cyllopodini were recovered as polyphyletic with species of Cyllopodini clustering within Rhodostrophiini . Similar results were recovered previously ( Sihvonen & Kaila, 2004; Sihvonen et al., 2011), suggesting that additional work is needed to be done to clarify the status and systematic positions of these tribes. Sterrhini and Scopulini were recovered as sister taxa as proposed by Sihvonen & Kaila (2004), Hausmann (2004), Õunap, Viidalepp & Saarma (2008) and Sihvonenetal . (2011).

Our new phylogenetic hypothesis constitutes a large step towards understanding the evolutionary relationships of the major lineages of Sterrhinae . Further taxonomic changes and more detailed interpretation of the clades will be dealt with by P. Sihvonen et al. (2019, unpublisheddata).

Figures

Figure 2 Evolutionary relationships of the subfamily Sterrhinae. Numbers above branches are SH-aLRT support (%)/ultrafast bootstrap support, UFBoot2(%), for nodes to the right of the numbers. Values of SH ≥ 80 and UFBoot2 ≥ 95 indicate well-supported clades (Trifinopoulos & Minh, 2018). *Formal taxonomic treatment will be dealt with in P. Sihvonen et al., 2019, unpublished data. Full-size DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7386/fig-2