Description of a new genus and species for a common and widespread Amazonian satyrine butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini)

Shinichi Nakahara; Gerardo Lamas; Keith Willmott; Marianne Espeland

doi:10.7717/peerj.10324

Description of a new genus and species for a common and widespread Amazonian satyrine butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini)

Shinichi Nakahara, Gerardo Lamas, Keith Willmott, Marianne Espeland

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

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 clade’’ in the nymphalid subtribe Euptychiina, based on our molecular phylogenetic analysis using a maximum likelihood approach. Nevertheless, its sister group is not confidently resolved in any analysis, supporting a relatively distant relationship to any described genus as well as our decision to establish a new monotypic genus. We further discuss the proposed taxonomy in the light of frequent criticism of the description of monotypic taxa, as well as emphasize the importance of incorporating multiple evidence when describing new genera, illustrated by reference to several recent generic descriptions in this subtribe.

Original language	English
Article number	e10324
Journal	PeerJ
Volume	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10324
State	Published - 4 Dec 2020
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
National Science Foundation: #0103746, #0639977, #0639861, #0847582, #1256742. McGuire Center Publication Fund. University of Florida’s Entomology and Nematology Department.

Funding Information:
This study was funded by the Leverhulme Trust, the Darwin Initiative, the FLMNH Museum Associates, the National Geographic Society (Research and Exploration Grant # 5751-96), the National Science Foundation (#0103746, #0639977, #0639861, #0847582, #1256742), and by the McGuire Center Publication Fund. Shinichi Nakahara received financial support from the University of Florida’s Entomology and Nematology Department. There was no additional external funding received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Keywords

Euptychiina
Monotypic taxa
Systematics
Taxonomy

Access to Document

10.7717/peerj.10324

Cite this

@article{6bc941c13fa547e0a0eb972bf88244dc,

title = "Description of a new genus and species for a common and widespread Amazonian satyrine butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini)",

abstract = "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 {\textquoteleft}{\textquoteleft}Splendeuptychia clade{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright} in the nymphalid subtribe Euptychiina, based on our molecular phylogenetic analysis using a maximum likelihood approach. Nevertheless, its sister group is not confidently resolved in any analysis, supporting a relatively distant relationship to any described genus as well as our decision to establish a new monotypic genus. We further discuss the proposed taxonomy in the light of frequent criticism of the description of monotypic taxa, as well as emphasize the importance of incorporating multiple evidence when describing new genera, illustrated by reference to several recent generic descriptions in this subtribe.",

keywords = "Euptychiina, Monotypic taxa, Systematics, Taxonomy",

author = "Shinichi Nakahara and Gerardo Lamas and Keith Willmott and Marianne Espeland",

year = "2020",

month = dec,

day = "4",

doi = "10.7717/peerj.10324",

language = "Ingl{\'e}s",

volume = "8",

journal = "PeerJ",

issn = "2167-8359",

publisher = "PeerJ Inc.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Description of a new genus and species for a common and widespread Amazonian satyrine butterfly (Lepidoptera

T2 - Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini)

AU - Nakahara, Shinichi

AU - Lamas, Gerardo

AU - Willmott, Keith

AU - Espeland, Marianne

PY - 2020/12/4

Y1 - 2020/12/4

N2 - 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 clade’’ in the nymphalid subtribe Euptychiina, based on our molecular phylogenetic analysis using a maximum likelihood approach. Nevertheless, its sister group is not confidently resolved in any analysis, supporting a relatively distant relationship to any described genus as well as our decision to establish a new monotypic genus. We further discuss the proposed taxonomy in the light of frequent criticism of the description of monotypic taxa, as well as emphasize the importance of incorporating multiple evidence when describing new genera, illustrated by reference to several recent generic descriptions in this subtribe.

AB - 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 clade’’ in the nymphalid subtribe Euptychiina, based on our molecular phylogenetic analysis using a maximum likelihood approach. Nevertheless, its sister group is not confidently resolved in any analysis, supporting a relatively distant relationship to any described genus as well as our decision to establish a new monotypic genus. We further discuss the proposed taxonomy in the light of frequent criticism of the description of monotypic taxa, as well as emphasize the importance of incorporating multiple evidence when describing new genera, illustrated by reference to several recent generic descriptions in this subtribe.

KW - Euptychiina

KW - Monotypic taxa

KW - Systematics

KW - Taxonomy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097318243&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.7717/peerj.10324

DO - 10.7717/peerj.10324

M3 - Artículo

AN - SCOPUS:85097318243

SN - 2167-8359

VL - 8

JO - PeerJ

JF - PeerJ

M1 - e10324

ER -

Description of a new genus and species for a common and widespread Amazonian satyrine butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this