Gerardo Lamas

J. F. Zikán described several new taxa of butterflies from the Neotropical region. The majority of the butterfly types of J. F. Zikán was deposited at the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (IOC). However, some type series were found to be incomplete. The present paper discusses and illustrate some type specimens of Papilionidae and Nym...

A comparative analysis of high-Andean Pierina was carried out, including a total of 25 species. Based on morphological evidence, with an emphasis on venation and genitalia and molecular data, using three genetic markers, we confirm the recent subjective synonymy of the generic names Tatochila Butler, 1870, Piercolias, Staudinger, 1894, Hypsochila U...

The discovery that a skipper butterfly Telegonus fulgerator (Walch, 1775), previously placed in the genus Astraptes Hübner, [1819], is a complex of many similar-looking species-level taxa with different COI barcodes, caterpillar foodplants and body patterns, and subtle differences in adult phenotypes raised a question about which species is the ori...

The comparative genomics of butterflies yields additional insights into their phylogeny and classification that are compiled here. As a result, 3 genera, 5 subgenera, 5 species, and 3 subspecies are proposed as new, i.e., in Hesperiidae: Antina Grishin, gen. n. (type species Antigonus minor O. Mielke, 1980), Pompe Grishin and Lamas, gen. n. (type s...

Butterflies associated with xerophytic environments of the Andes have been little studied, and they exhibit high levels of endemism. Herein Dione (Agraulis) dodona Lamas & Farfán, sp. nov. (Nymphalidae; Heli-coniinae) is described, distributed on the western slopes of the Andes of Peru and northern Chile, between 800 and 3,000 m elevation. Adults o...

Here, we present the largest, global dataset of Lepidopteran traits, focusing initially on butterflies (ca. 12,500 species records). These traits are derived from field guides, taxonomic treatments, and other literature resources. We present traits on wing size, phenology,voltinism, diapause/overwintering stage, hostplant associations, and habitat...

Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to have diversified via coevolution with plants and in response to dispersals following key geological events. These hypotheses have been poorly tested at the macroevolutionary scale because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and datasets on global distributions and larval...

We propose a higher classification of the lycaenid hairstreak tribe Eumaeini – one of the youngest and most species‐rich butterfly tribes – based on autosome, Lepidopteran Z sex chromosome and mitochondrial protein‐coding genes. The subtribe Neolycaenina Korb is a synonym of Callophryidina Tutt and subtribe Tmolusina Bálint is a synonym of Strephon...

We here establish a new genus in the nymphalid butterfly subtribe Euptychiina, Cisandina Nakahara & Espeland, n. gen. to harbor five species hitherto placed within two polyphyletic genera, namely Magneuptychia Forster, 1964 and Euptychoides Forster, 1964. We compiled data from over 350 specimens in 17 public and private collections, as well as DNA...

We here describe and name a new nymphalid butterfly species in the subtribe Euptychiina, Yphthimoides kinyoni Lamas, Nakahara & Barbosa, n. sp., based on an integrative taxonomic approach. Yphthimoides kinyoni n. sp. is currently known solely from the Cosñipata valley (Cuzco, Peru) where it is apparently confined to a narrow elevational zone. We in...

Aim The biodiversity crisis has highlighted the need to assess and map biodiversity in order to prioritize conservation efforts. Clearwing butterflies (tribe Ithomiini) have been proposed as biological indicators for habitat quality in Neotropical forests, which contain the world's richest biological communities. Here, we provide maps of different...

Two new species of Hermeuptychia Forster, 1964 are described. Hermeuptychia sinuosa Grishin, sp. n. (type locality Guatemala: El Progreso, Morazán) is an isolated member of the genus that does not readily fit into known species groups, as suggested by its distinct male and female genitalia and COI DNA barcode sequences. It is distinguished from its...

The Heliconiini genera Agraulis and Dryas are widely distributed throughout the Neotropics and into adjacent temperate regions, and although they are currently treated as monotypic, both show significant geographic phenotypic variation. In this work, we employ six genetic markers (4199 bp), two mitochondrial and four nuclear, to perform coalescent...

The global increase in species richness toward the tropics across continents and taxonomic groups, referred to as the latitudinal diversity gradient, stimulated the formulation of many hypotheses to explain the underlying mechanisms of this pattern. We evaluate several of these hypotheses to explain spatial diversity patterns in a butterfly family,...

The geography of northern Peru is complex, and the region remained difficult to explore for a long time. It is only at the end of the XIXth Century that a few naturalists collected Morpho butterflies. When Hans Fruhstorfer’s synthesis was published in 1912-1913, the fauna of the Amazonian lowlands, near Iquitos, was well documented, and a few data...

The discovery of Morpho butterflies in northern Peru, from the end of the XIXth to the beginning of the XXIst Century The geography of northern Peru is complex, and the region remained difficult to explore for a long time. It is only at the end of the XIXth Century that a few naturalists collected Morpho butterflies. When Hans Fruhstorfer’s synthe...

La presente publicación que la Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSM) se complace en editar, constituye uno de los mejores esfuerzos por acercar el conocimiento especializado sobre un taxón cuya diversidad ha sido objeto de asombro, tanto de neófitos como entomólogos de reconocida trayectoria en el mundo. De entrada , los autores nos hacen una s...

Male butterflies in the hyperdiverse tribe Eumaeini possess an unusually complex and diverse repertoire of secondary sexual characteristics involved in pheromone production and dissemination. Maintaining multiple sexually selected traits is likely to be metabolically costly, potentially resulting in trade-offs in the evolution of male signals. Howe...

Peru’s Cosñipata Region in Cuzco and Madre de Dios Departments is a valley between Manu National Park and the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve that ranges from 400 to 4,000 m elevation. A team of experienced lepidopterists sampled the butterfly fauna of this valley for more than a decade (7,440 field person-hours). We analyze the data for Lycaenidae (Le...

Two new species of Hermeuptychia Forster, 1964 are described. Hermeuptychia sinuosa Grishin, sp. n. (type locality Guatemala: El Progreso, Morazán) is an isolated member of the genus that does not readily fit into known species groups, as suggested by its distinct male and female genitalia and COI DNA barcode sequences. It is distinguished from its...

We here propose a new monotypic butterfly genus Scriptor Nakahara & Espeland, n. gen. to accommodate a new species, S. sphenophorus Lamas & Nakahara, n. sp., described and named herein. Scriptor sphenophorus n. gen. and n. sp. is a relatively common and widespread butterfly species which is recovered as a member of the so-called ''Splendeuptychia c...

We here transfer an euptychiine taxon hitherto placed in the polyphyletic genus Magneuptychia Forster, 1964, to Caeruleuptychia Forster, 1964. Caeruleuptychia francisca (Butler, 1870), n. comb. is reclassified based on a morphology-based maximum likelihood analysis, which is consistent with ongoing analyses of molecular data. Two putative synapomor...

Vareuptychia Forster, 1964 stat. rest. is revalidated and comprises two species, V. similis (Butler, 1867) comb. rest. and V. themis (Butler, 1867) comb. nov. Vanima Zacca, Casagrande Mielke gen. nov. is described to contain Euptychia labe Butler, 1870 (the type species), E. palladia Butler, 1867 and E. lesbia Staudinger, [1886]. The taxonomy of th...

Papilio harpalyce Donovan, 1805 from Australia is a junior primary homonym of Papilio harpalyce Cramer, 1777 from Africa and, under most circumstances, cannot be used to designate the pierid butterfly currently known as Delias harpalyce (Donovan, 1805). The oldest available name for the Australian species is Papilio lewini Thon, 1827. Under Article...

The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is arguably one of the most striking patterns in nature. The global increase in species richness toward the tropics across continents and taxonomic groups stimulated the formulation of many hypotheses to explain the underlying mechanisms of this pattern. We evaluated several of these hypotheses to explain sp...

A new species of the genus Mathania Oberthür, 1890, M. hughesi Lamas, Farfán & Cerdeña, sp. n. is described from the southwestern slopes of the Andes of Peru, associated with xerophytic environments, between 2300 and 3500 m elevation. This new species is distinguishable from its congeners by the following external character: a black band on forewin...

A systematic revision of Paryphthimoides , a satyrine genus widely distributed in Central and South America, is presented based on an integrative approach. Molecular phylogeny inferred using multiple methods with nuclear (GAPDH, RpS5) and mitochondrial (COI) genes indicates that Paryphthimoides , as currently circumscribed, is polyphyletic. A new t...

The male genitalic characters of Hexapoda are well known for their great taxonomic and systematic value. Despite insect male genitalia displaying large diversity, variation, and modification across orders, some structures are consistently present, and such characters can serve as the basis for discussion regarding homology. In the order Lepidoptera...

We provide the first comprehensive taxonomic revision of the poorly known South American butterfly genus Zischkaia Forster, 1964, hitherto regarded as including three described species. A phylogenetic analysis based on DNA sequence data shows that Zischkaia is monophyletic and consists of two morphologically diagnosable clades. Morphological charac...

The landscape of the Neotropical region has undergone dynamic evolution throughout the Miocene, with the extensive Pebas wetland occupying western Amazonia between 23 and c. 10 Ma and the continuous uplift of the Andes mountains. The complex interaction between the Andes and Amazonia probably influenced the trajectory of Neotropical biodiversity, b...

A new genus, Optimandes Marín, Nakahara & Willmott, n. gen., is described to contain the type species Neonympha eugenia C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867, its junior subjective synonym Euptychia phineus Butler, 1867, and its subspecies Euptychia transversa Weymer, 1911, which are transferred from the genus Euptychoides Forster, 1964. The sister species t...

A taxonomic paper describing supposedly new Lepidoptera taxa was recently published (Dong et al. 2018) in a fully electronic and purely online journal, with ISSN-Online: 2313-7177, available from http://www.ghrnet.org/index.php/ jbmbr. They described a new genus and a new species of Lepidoptera Satyrinae (Nymphalidae) and a new species of Lepidopte...

We here propose a new, monotypic genus, Amiga Nakahara, Willmott & Espeland, gen. n., to harbor a common Neotropical butterfly, described as Papilio arnaca Fabricius, 1776, and hitherto placed in the genus Chloreuptychia Forster, 1964. Recent and ongoing molecular phylogenetic research has shown Chloreuptychia to be polyphyletic, with C. arnaca pro...

The systematics of the enigmatic and rather uncommon species of Sea Hayward and Cybdelis Boisduval is assessed through morphological and molecular analyses. The aim of this paper is three‐fold: (i) to ascertain the phylogenetic position of Sea and Cybdelis in Biblidinae; (ii) to determine the evolutionary relationships among species of Sea and Cybd...

This paper presents an updated checklist of the butterflies of Europe, together with their original name combinations, and their occurrence status in each European country. According to this checklist, 496 species of the superfamily Papilionoidea occur in Europe. Changes in comparison with the last version (2.6.2) of Fauna Europaea are discussed. C...

Relationships within satyrine butterflies have been notoriously difficult to resolve using both morphology and Sanger sequencing methods, and this is particularly true for the mainly Neotropical subtribe Euptychiina, which contains about 400 described species. Known larvae of Euptychiina feed on grasses and sedges, with the exception of the genus E...

The evolution of reproductive isolation via a switch in mimetic wing coloration has become the paradigm for speciation in aposematic Heliconius butterflies. Here, we provide a counterexample to this, by documenting two cryptic species within the taxon formerly considered Heliconius demeter Staudinger, 1897. Amplified fragment length polymorphisms i...

Seven new euptychiine (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) taxa are described and named herein, namely Harjesia argentata Nakahara, Zacca and Lamas, n. sp., Orotaygetis Nakahara and Zacca, n. gen., O. surui Nakahara, Zacca and Lamas, n. sp., Euptychoides sanmarcos Nakahara and Lamas, n. sp., Pseudeuptychia cuzquenya Nakahara and Lamas, n. sp., P....

A new species of Euptychiina, Erichthodes eremita Lamas, Willmott & Radford, n. sp., is described and illustrated. DNA sequence data suggest that the new species is sister to a species currently placed in Erichthodes Forster, 1964, although ongoing revision of the generic taxonomy of the subtribe might result in the reclassification of both of thes...

The discovery of a new species of satyrine butterfly, Magneuptychia louisammour Benmesbah & Zacca, sp. n., that is phenotypically similar to a sympatric species widely known as Magneuptychia ocypete (Fabricius, 1776), led to a review of the taxonomic status of M. ocypete. A neotype for Papilio ocypete Fabricius, 1776 is designated and its redescrip...

The Neotropical region is the most biodiverse on Earth, in a large part due to the highly diverse tropical Andean biota. The Andes are a potentially important driver of diversification within the mountains and for neighboring regions. We compared the role of the Andes in diversification among three subtribes of Ithomiini butterflies endemic to the...

Euptychia saltuensis Hayward, 1962, new synonym, currently regarded as a nomen dubium and possibly a junior subjective synonym of Yphthimoides manasses (C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867), is here treated as a junior subjective synonym of Yphthimoides patricia (Hayward, 1957), based on morphological characters of the male genitalia and the DNA barcode. T...

“This preprint has been reviewed and recommended by Peer Community In Evolutionary Biology ( http://dx.doi.org/10.24072/pci.evolbiol.100032 )” The Neotropical region has experienced a dynamic landscape evolution throughout the Miocene, with the large wetland Pebas occupying western Amazonia until 11-8 my ago and continuous uplift of the Andes mount...

El objetivo de este trabajo fue elucidar el ciclo biológico de la mariposa diurna Archaeoprepona demophon muson, determinar las especies de plantas con las que se relaciona, caracterizar su hábitat y contribuir al conocimiento sobre sus enemigos naturales. El trabajo de campo se desarrolló en dos áreas cercanas a la ciudad de Iquitos (Perú). Para d...

The giant butterfly-moths (Castniidae: Castniinae) are distributed in the Neotropics from Mexico, throughout Central America, down to South America reaching Argentina and Chile. Among the highly diverse genera, Haemonides Hübner is particularly striking due to the white or cream ground colour of their wings outlined with black margins which give it...

An annotated synonymic checklist of the subtribe Pericopina (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini) is presented, containing 332 species in 36 genera. One new replacement generic name, Myserla Lamas, is proposed for Sermyla Walker, 1854, a junior homonym of Sermyla H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854 (Mollusca). Thirteen new generic combinations are int...

Se determinó el efecto de dietas vegetales en el desarrollo larval de dos especies de mariposas diurnas en cautiverio en el Centro de Investigaciones Allpahuayo del Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP), Iquitos, Perú. Para evaluar sus ciclos biológicos se emplearon 20 larvas recién emergidas de cada una de las especies, de for...

We review the taxonomy of Actinote intensa Jordan stat. rest. and describe a new sibling species, Actinote johncoulsoni Willmott, Lamas & Hall, n. sp., from the east Andean slopes of central and southern Ecuador. The species are broadly sympatric, occur in the same sites throughout the more restricted range of the new species, and differ in a numbe...

A new species belonging to the previously monotypic genus Panca Evans, 1955, P. moseri Dolibaina, Carneiro & O. Mielke sp. nov., from grasslands areas of Peru, Bolivia and Brazil is described. Adults and male and female genitalia of the new species are illustrated, described in detail, and compared with the type species of the genus, Lerodea subpun...

El presente trabajo informa sobre las plantas alimenticias utilizadas por 19 especies de mariposas diurnas (Lepidoptera) que ocurren en el Centro de Investigaciones Allpahuayo-Mishana y la Comunidad Campesina de San Rafael, Loreto, Perú. Se reportan 23 especies y 1 híbrido de angiospermas empleadas por las mariposas investigadas. Veintiún plantas e...