Marianne Espeland

Marianne Espeland
Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change | LIB · Centre for Taxonomy and Morphology

PhD in systematic zoology, Stockholm University/ Swedish Museum of Natural History

About

123
Publications
65,269
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2,106
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Introduction
Acquiring more knowledge about the patterns and processes shaping life on earth is of great importance during a time when biodiversity in many regions is seriously threatened. My research attempts to contribute to the knowledge and understanding of the great diversity of Lepidoptera and Trichoptera, and combines studies on systematics, biogeography and diversification with genomics and museomics.
Additional affiliations
January 2016 - December 2024
Research Museum Alexander Koenig
Position
  • Curator of Lepidoptera & Trichoptera and Head of the Lepidoptera Section
January 2003 - April 2004
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Position
  • Master student/research assistant
August 2014 - December 2015
University of Florida
Position
  • PostDoc Position

Publications

Publications (123)
Article
Butterflies (Papilionoidea), with over 18,000 described species [1], have captivated naturalists and scientists for centuries. They play a central role in the study of speciation, community ecology, biogeography, climate change, and plant-insect interactions and include many model organisms and pest species [2, 3]. However, a robust higher-level ph...
Article
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Museum collections around the world contain billions of specimens, including rare and extinct species. If their genetic information could be retrieved at a large scale, this would dramatically increase our knowledge of genetic and taxonomic diversity information, and support evolutionary, ecological and systematic studies. We here present a target...
Article
Gene regulatory elements play a crucial role in the pattern formation of butterfly wings.
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The diverse, largely Neotropical subtribe Euptychiina is widely regarded as one of the most taxonomically challenging groups among all butterflies. Over the last two decades, morphological and molecular studies have revealed widespread paraphyly and polyphyly among genera, and a comprehensive, robust phylogenetic hypothesis is needed to build a fir...
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Africa has undergone a progressive aridification during the last 20 My that presumably impacted organisms and fostered the evolution of life history adaptations. We test the hypothesis that shift to living in ant nests and feeding on ant brood by larvae of phyto-predaceous Lepidochrysops butterflies was an adaptive response to the aridification of...
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A new genus of satyrine butterflies, Nivaliodes gen. nov., is described for three species, all new: Nivaliodes negrobueno sp. nov., Nivaliodes viracocha sp. nov., and Nivaliodes puriq sp. nov. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), with the support of molecular data and adult morphology. A target enrichment-based phylogeny indicates that Nivaliodes gen. nov....
Article
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Delimitation of allopatric populations into species remains subjective and largely arbitrary. Many cold-adapted species from the sub-Arctic and Central and Southern European Mountain systems provide excellent models to study allopatry problem due to their patchy distributions. The same concerns many Holarctic species, which frequently show varying...
Article
The African lacturid genus Eremothyris Walsingham, 1897 stat. rev. is resurrected from the synonym of Gymnogramma Zeller, 1852 based on the examination of the type species of both genera. The checklist of the genus Eremothyris is provided. The following new combinations are given: E. atmocycla (Meyrick, 1918) comb. n., E. privata (Meyrick, 1924) co...
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We describe a new species of the genus Choranthus Scudder from northeastern Cuba based on morphological and molecular evidence. Choranthus serranorum sp. n. is the closest relative of C. richmondi from the Bahamas. We discuss the implications of its discovery for the evolution of the genus on the islands. Given the apparent restricted distribution...
Article
Two new replacement names for two genus-group taxa are proposed: Spitosa Espeland, Huang & Inayoshi, nom. nov. for Sospita Hewitson, 1861 and Sibosia Espeland, Huang & Inayoshi, nom. nov. for Sosibia Fruhstorfer, 1914. Both taxa are compared with Abisara C. Felder & R. Felder, 1860. The adult and genitalia of the type species of Spitosa, Sibosia an...
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Article published in the Journal "Koenigiana" Vol 18: 21-40 in German. English Summary below. Die Kaukasus-Region macht dem Titel „Biodiversity-Hotspot“ alle Ehre. Es gibt noch sehr viele Arten, die erforscht oder gar erst noch entdeckt werden müssen – wie aus den Berichten zu den verschiedensten Tiergruppen hervorgeht. Während des BioBlitz 2022 u...
Article
The two riodinid taxa described by Rudolf Emil Mell were reviewed. Lectotypes have been designated for Sospita sobrina Mell, 1923 and Hipporion chauchowensis Mell, 1923. Abisara freda Bennett, 1957 syn. n. and A. freda daliensis Sugiyama, 1992 syn. n. are synonymized with A. sobrina (Mell, 1923) and Polycaena chauchowensis pallidior Forster, 1951 s...
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Caddisflies (Trichoptera) are among the most diverse groups of freshwater animals with more than 16 000 described species. They play a fundamental role in freshwater ecology and environmental engineering in streams, rivers and lakes. Because of this, they are frequently used as indicator organisms in biomonitoring programmes. Despite their importan...
Article
A new butterfly species in the genus Corades, C. yanacocha Pyrcz, Boyer & Petit sp. n., belonging to the diverse, predominantly Andean subtribe Pronophilina (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae), is described from the Yanacocha Reserve situated only a couple of kilometres west of Quito, Ecuador. This is an extremely surprising discovery in a region whose butter...
Article
A new genus Viridiflavoritia Huang & Horie, gen. n. is described to accommodate a new species, V. koxiae Huang & Horie sp. n. from Mt. Simian, Chongqing, southwestern China and Mt. Tianping, Guangxi, southern China. A comparative is made with its related taxa. Adult and genitalia of the aforementioned taxa are illustrated.
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Temperature is thought to be a key factor influencing global species richness patterns. We investigate the link between temperature and diversification in the butterfly family Pieridae by combining next generation DNA sequences and published molecular data with fine-grained distribution data. We sampled nearly 600 pierid butterfly species to infer...
Preprint
Full-text available
Caddisflies (Trichoptera) are among the most diverse groups of freshwater animals, with more than 16,000 described species. They play an outsized role in freshwater ecology and environmental engineering in streams, rivers, and lakes. Because of this, they are frequently used as indicator organisms in biomonitoring programs. Despite their importance...
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Full-text available
In this study, we aim to uncover diet preferences for the insectivorous bat Nyctalus leisleri (Leisler's bat, the lesser noctule) and to provide recommendations for conservation of the species, based on the analysis of prey source habitats. Using a novel guano trap, we sampled bat faeces at selected roosts in a forest in Germany and tested two mito...
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Two new species and two new subspecies of the satyrine butterfly genus Punargentus Heimlich, P. atusparia sp. n., P. heimlichi sp. n., P. blanchardi libertas ssp. n. and P. atusparia yupania ssp. n., are described from north-central Peru (Ancash, Huánuco and La Libertad). The affinities of the new taxa are evaluated based on molecular data obtained...
Article
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The focus of this study has been to understand the evolutionary relationships and taxonomy of a widely distributed parapatric species pair of wild silk moths in Europe: Saturnia pavonia and Saturnia pavoniella (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). To address species delimitation in these parapatric taxa, target enrichment and mtDNA sequencing was employed al...
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Analysis of a target enrichment molecular dataset confirms the monophyly of the Neotropical montane butterfly group known as the Pronophila Westwood clade, 1 of 2 major lineages of the satyrine subtribe Pronophilina. The Pronophila clade comprises 18–20 recognized genera and some 125 species. Within this group, the genus Pseudomaniola Röber appears...
Preprint
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There are various possibilities for sequencing highly degraded DNA, such as target enrichment (TE), or whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Here we compare TE and WGS methods using old museum specimens of two families of moths in the superfamily Geometroidea: Epicopeiidae and Sematuridae. Until recently, the relationships of these two families were uncle...
Preprint
The focus of this study is to understand the evolutionary relationships and taxonomy of widely distributed parapatric species pair of wild silk moths, Saturnia pavonia and Saturnia pavoniella (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) in Europe. To address species delimitation challenges associated with many parapatric taxa, target enrichment and mtDNA sequencing...
Article
Taxonomic investigations of the Eirmocides helenita (Semper, 1879) complex from north-eastern Australia and mainland New Guinea based on adult morphology (male genitalia and wing colour pattern elements), together with a phylogenetic hypothesis of the genus (18 or 69% of the recognised species) based on molecular data (1 mitochondrial and 12 nuclea...
Article
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Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to have evolved with plants and dispersed throughout the world in response to key geological events. However, these hypotheses have not been extensively tested because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and datasets for butterfly larval hosts and global distributions are la...
Article
A preliminary review of the genus Agalope Walker, 1854 is presented. Two new genera are established for four species-groups: Rotundagalope S.-Y. Huang & Horie, gen. n. (type species Agalope immaculata Leech, 1898, for the immaculata species-group), Paragalope S.-Y. Huang & Horie, gen. n. (type species Chelura pica Wileman, 1910, for the pica, glaci...
Article
A new species Eterusia sinoraja Huang & Horie sp. n. is described from western Sichuan Province, western China. The comparison is made with the reminiscent E. raja Moore, 1859 from northeastern India. The adult and genitalia of both sexes of the aforementioned taxa are illustrated.
Preprint
Full-text available
Delimitation of allopatric populations into species remains subjective and largely arbitrary. Many cold-adapted species from the subarctic and Central and Southern European Mountain systems display frequent allopatry with disjunct distributions of their populations. The same concerns Holarctic species which are many and which almost regularly show...
Article
Full-text available
The Poritiinae are a diverse subfamily of lycaenid butterflies with about 700 species divided into two major groups: the Asian endemic tribe Poritiini, and the African endemic tribe Liptenini. Among these, the Liptenini are notable for their lichenivorous diet and the strong but apparently non‐mutualistic ant associations of many species. We presen...
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Background Trichoptera are one of the most diverse groups of freshwater insects worldwide and one of the main bioindicators for freshwater quality. However, in many areas, caddisflies remain understudied due to lack of taxonomic expertise. Meanwhile, globally increasing anthropogenic stress on freshwater streams also threatens Trichoptera diversity...
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Species are the fundamental units of life and evolution. Their recognition is essential for science and society. Molecular methods have been increasingly used for the identification of animal species, despite several challenges. Here, we explore with genomic data from nine animal lineages a set of nuclear markers, namely metazoan-level universal si...
Article
Here, we untangle an oversight surrounding the application of the name Papilio marcus Fabricius, 1787 (Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae), currently in Troyus Warren & Turland, 2012, which has eluded taxonomists for nearly two centuries. First, we note that P. marcus is a junior primary homonym of Papilio marcus Schaller, 1785, a species currently in Morpho...
Article
A new genus of Neotropical Satyrinae butterflies, Viloriodes Pyrcz & Espeland gen. n. is described in the Pedaliodes Butler complex comprising 11–13 genera and more than 400 species. Support for the new genus is provided by a phylogenetic analysis based on target enrichment (TE) data including 618 nuclear loci with a total of 248,940 nucleotides, a...
Preprint
Full-text available
Temperature is thought to be a key variable explaining global patterns of species richness. However, to investigate this relationship carefully, it is necessary to study clades with broad geographic ranges that are comprised of species inhabiting diverse biomes with well-characterized species ranges. In the present study, we investigate the link be...
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The Cretaceous family Cretapsychidae Wichard, 2021 belongs to the superfamily Sericostomatoidea Stephens, 1836 and is characterized by the five-segmented maxillary palps, with the second segment being the longest and the following three segments becoming successively smaller, and the tibial spur formula 2/2/4. In addition, the wing venation is char...
Article
New information of the genus Agalope Walker, 1854 from mainland China is presented. Three new species of the Agalope pica species-group are described: A. haoi S.-Y. Huang sp. n. from Weixi County, Yunnan, A. chayuensis S.-Y. Huang & Pan sp. n. from Chayu County, Southeastern Xizang and A. owadai S.-Y. Huang sp. n. from Bomi and Jiali Counties, Sout...
Article
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Parapatrically distributed taxa pose a challenge for species delimitation due to the presence of gene flow and inherent arbitrariness of exactly defining the species boundaries in such systems. We tackled the problem of species delimitation in a parapatric species pair of Melitaea butterflies using two popular genomic methods—double digest restrict...
Preprint
Full-text available
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...
Article
Full-text available
It is shown that Catochrysops trifracta Butler, 1884, currently a synonym of the widespread old world Euchrysops cnejus (Fabricius, 1798) is a junior subjective synonym of the neotropical species Hemiargus hanno (Stoll [1790]). To fix the taxonomic identity of the name Catochrysops trifracta Butler, 1884, I designate a lectotype.
Preprint
Parapatrically distributed taxa pose a challenge for species delimitation due to the presence of gene flow and inherent arbitrariness of exactly defining the species boundaries in such systems. We tackled the problem of species delimitation in a parapatric species pair of Melitaea butterflies using two popular genomic methods, double digest restric...
Article
Full-text available
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...
Article
Full-text available
New methods in taxonomy and systematics can influence the overall practice of formally naming and describing biodiversity. DNA barcoding has been controversial since its emergence, but now, large scale species descriptions exclusively based on barcodes have created what can be called a 'new quality of performance'. Its limitations are discussed fro...
Article
A new species of Taydebis Freitas, 2003 from south Brazil is described using comparative morphology and species distributions. Also, based on morphology, we transfer Neonympha melobosis Capronnier, 1874 (formerly placed in Paryphthimoides Forster, 1964) to Taydebis, and recognize Euptychia peculiaris Butler, 1874 as its junior synonym (syn. nov.)....
Article
Full-text available
Conservation genomics has made dramatic improvements over the past decade, leveraging the power of genomes to infer diverse parameters central to conservation management questions. However, much of this effort has focused upon vertebrate species, despite insects providing similar flagship status with the added benefit of smaller genomes, shorter ge...
Preprint
Full-text available
New methods in taxonomy and systematics can influence the overall practice of formally nam-ing and describing biodiversity. DNA barcoding has been controversial since its emergence, but now, large scale species descriptions exclusively based on barcodes have created what can be called a "new quality of performance". Its limitations are discussed fr...
Preprint
Full-text available
Species are the fundamental units of life and their recognition is essential for science and society. DNA barcoding, the use of a single and often mitochondrial gene, has been increasingly employed as a universal approach for the identification of animal species. However, this approach faces several challenges. Here, we demonstrate with empirical d...
Article
Full-text available
Billions of specimens can be found in natural history museum collections around the world, holding potential molecular secrets to be unveiled. Among them are intriguing specimens of rare families of moths that, while represented in morphology-based works, are only beginning to be included in genomic studies: Pseudobistonidae, Sematuridae, and Epico...
Article
DNA ‘barcoding’ has contributed greatly to resolving species limits in rapidly diverging tropical insect groups. Here, we explored species diversity in the widespread, cryptic Neotropical butterfly genus Hermeuptychia by generating 601 new sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) barcode, tripling available information. Our dataset focused in...
Article
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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 endem...
Article
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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...
Article
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Diversification rates and evolutionary trajectories are known to be influenced by phenotypic traits and the geographic history of the landscapes that organisms inhabit. One of the most conspicuous traits in butterflies is their wing color pattern, which has been shown to be important in speciation. The evolution of many taxa in the Neotropics has a...
Article
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...
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New Caledonia has a rich Trichoptera fauna with over 200 known species, most of them endemic. The to- tal diversity has been estimated as high as 300 to 600 species. The endemic genus Agmina Ward & Schefter (Ecnomidae, Trichoptera) includes 28 described species. Based on male genitalia morphology and previ- ously published molecular data another 47...
Article
The butterfly tribe Candalidini is geographically restricted to Australia and mainland New Guinea and its adjacent islands. With 60 species and subspecies, it represents a large radiation of Papilionoidea in the Australian region. Although the species‐level taxonomy is relatively well understood, the number of genera is uncertain, varying from two...
Article
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Three new fossil species from Burmese amber are described, one clearly in family Calamoceratidae, the other two in the highly variable family Odontoceridae. The family Odontoceridae contains 18 disparate genera, but there are no good diagnostic characters, which makes it difficult to place fossil taxa in this family. We here offer a revised diagnos...
Article
Peronia J. Fleming, 1822 is an eupulmonate slug genus with a wide distribution in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Currently, nine species are considered as valid. However, molecular data indicate cryptic speciation and more species involved. Here, we present results on a new species found in the Persian Gulf, a subtropical region with harsh conditions such...
Article
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...
Article
Full-text available
Monitoring insect populations is vital for estimating the health of ecosystems. Recently, insect population decline has been highlighted both in the scientific world and the media. Investigating such decline requires monitoring which includes adequate sampling and correctly identifying sampled taxa. This task requires extensive manpower and is time...
Technical Report
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Here we report on collaborative expeditions run by ISU (Ilia State University, Tbilisi), ZFMK (Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn) and external taxonomists in Georgia in 2018 and 2019 as part of the renewed close cooperation between Germany and Caucasus countries aiming at the exploration of biodiversity in the Caucasus region. Th...
Article
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Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) are one of the major super-radiations of insects, comprising nearly 160,000 described extant species. As herbivores, pollinators, and prey, Lepidoptera play a fundamental role in almost every terrestrial ecosystem. Lepidoptera are also indicators of environmental change and serve as models for research on mimicry...
Article
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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...
Article
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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...
Article
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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...