Phylogenetic relationships of subfamilies in the family Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea) from China

Abstract

Hesperiidae is one of the largest families of butterflies. Our knowledge of the higher systematics on hesperiids from China is still very limited. We infer the phylogenetic relationships of the subfamilies of Chinese skippers based on three mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b (Cytb), the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1) and cytochrome oxidase I (COI)). In this study, 30 species in 23 genera were included in the Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses. The subfamily Coeliadinae, Eudaminae, Pyrginae and Heteropterinae were recovered as a monophyletic clade with strong support. The subfamily Hesperiinae formed a clade, but support for monophyly was weak. Our results imply that the five subfamilies of Chinese Hesperiidae should be divided into: Coeliadinae, Eudaminae, Pyrginae, Heteropterinae and Hesperiinae. The relationships of the five subfamilies should be as follows: Coeliadinae + (Eudaminae + (Pyrginae + (Heteropterinae + Hesperiinae))).