A Contribution Towards Resolving the Systematics of the High-Altitude Tropical Andean Satyrine Genus Altopedaliodes Forster, 1964 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalinae: Satyrinae).

The first phylogenetic hypotheses for the high Andean satyrine butterfly genus Altopedaliodes is proposed based on sequence data from mitochondrial (COI and COII) and nuclear (EF-1α) genes. Four species previously included in the genus were found not to be closely related to the clade containing the type species for Altopedaliodes, and these species are therefore removed and placed in the appropriate genus: Pedaliodes cocytia (C. Felder and R. Felder, 1867) n. comb., Pedaliodes nebris Thieme 1905rev. comb., Neopedaliodes tamaensis (Pyrcz and Viloria 2007) n. comb., and Altopedaliodes similis Henao, Páez and Rodríguez-M., 2017; the last name is here synonymized with Pedaliodes nebris (Thieme 1905) n. syn. A taxonomic revision of the twelve species in Altopedaliodes as newly circumscribed is presented and all the currently recognized taxa are revised. We describe two new species, A. llanganati Padrón, Pyrcz and Willmott n. sp. (Ecuador, Napo) and A. pilimbala Pyrcz and Boyer n. sp. (Colombia, Cauca), and three new subspecies, A. reissi papallacta Padrón, Pyrcz and Willmott n. ssp. (Ecuador, Napo), A. reissi dominica Pyrcz and Padrón n. ssp. (Colombia, Valle del Cauca) and A. halli cagnoni Boyer, Pyrcz and Padrón n. ssp. (Ecuador, Morona-Santiago). A new status is proposed for A. nucea Pyrcz and Viloria 1999, n. stat., we combine Altopedaliodes scydmaena (Hayward, 1968) n. comb. and Altopedaliodes belmira (Pyrcz and Rodríguez, 2004), n. comb., n. stat. into the genus and treat the latter taxon as a species, and we newly treat Altopedaliodes scydmaena kruegeri Pyrcz 1999n. stat. as a subspecies.

A New Species of Butterfly of the Genus Protopedaliodes from the Isolated Tramen Tepui in the Guyana Shield (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae).

A new species of Protopedaliodes Viloria & Pyrcz, a satyrine butterfly genus endemic to the highest part of the Guyana Shield, P. arekuna Pyrcz & Stachowicz n. sp., is described from the summit area, ca. 2400 m, of Tramen Tepui, an isolated mountain situated on the Venezuela-Guyana border. It is a remarkable finding as it is probably a narrow endemic, and only the fourth known member of the genus. Morphologically it most closely resembles P. kukenani Viloria & Pyrcz from the Roraima-Kukenán twin peaks. COI barcode analysis shows, however, high genetic distances between these two species, 9-10%. Protopedaliodes taxonomy is briefly revised, from the perspective of the monophyly of the genus based on preliminary molecular and morphological comparative data, including the female genitalia described for the first time for P. kukenani and P. ridouti Viloria & Pyrcz.

Use of species delimitation approaches to tackle the cryptic diversity of an assemblage of high Andean butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea).

Cryptic biological diversity has generated ambiguity in taxonomic and evolutionary studies. Single-locus methods and other approaches for species delimitation are useful for addressing this challenge, enabling the practical processing of large numbers of samples for identification and inventory purposes. This study analyzed an assemblage of high Andean butterflies using DNA barcoding and compared the identifications based on the current morphological taxonomy with three methods of species delimitation (automatic barcode gap discovery, generalized mixed Yule coalescent model, and Poisson tree processes). Sixteen potential cryptic species were recognized using these three methods, representing a net richness increase of 11.3% in the assemblage. A well-studied taxon of the genus Vanessa, which has a wide geographical distribution, appeared with the potential cryptic species that had a higher genetic differentiation at the local level than at the continental level. The analyses were useful for identifying the potential cryptic species in Pedaliodes and Forsterinaria complexes, which also show differentiation along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients. This genetic assessment of an entire assemblage of high Andean butterflies (Papilionoidea) provides baseline information for future research in a region characterized by high rates of endemism and population isolation.