A double-edged sword: Unrecognized cryptic diversity and taxonomic impediment in Eois (Lepidoptera, Geometridae)

Author(s)

Moraes, Simeao de Souza ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Murillo-Ramos, Leidys ^{[1, 4]} ; Machado, Patricia A. ^{[2, 3]} ; Ghanavi, Hamid R. ^[1] ; Magaldi, Luiza M. ^{[2, 3]} ; Silva-Brandao, Karina L. ^[5] ; Kato, Massuo J. ^[6] ; Freitas, Andre V. L. ^{[2, 3]} ; Wahlberg, Niklas ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Lund Univ, Dept Biol, Lund - Sweden

^[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Dept Biol Anim, Rua Monteiro Lobato, 255 Cidade Univ Zeferino Vaz, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Campinas, Museu Zool, Rua Monteiro Lobato, 255 Cidade Univ Zeferino Vaz, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sucre, Dept Biol, Sincelejo - Colombia

^[5] Univ Fed ABC, Ctr Ciencias Nat & Humanas, Santo Andre, SP - Brazil

^[6] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Quim, Lab Quim Prod Nat, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ZOOLOGICA SCRIPTA; v. 50, n. 5, p. 633-646, SEP 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The genus Eois Hubner (Geometridae: Larentiinae) comprises 254 valid species. Being a hyperdiverse genus, Eois potentially includes many undescribed cryptic species and embodies a problematic taxonomic scenario. The actual diversity of Eois is greatly underestimated and the Neotropical fauna needs to be well known since it figures as one of the most threatened terrestrial ecosystem. In the present study, we compare three species delimitation methods to highlight the hidden diversity within a subset of Eois species: Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery, Bayesian Poisson Tree Processes and Multi-Rate Poisson Tree Processes. Our results point to an increase up to 176% in the currently valid species number. The hypothesis of cryptic diversity is corroborated by morphological characters within some species complexes. For complexes comprising species of Brazilian fauna, we provide a preliminary taxonomic assessment. Additionally, we found no congruence among the three delimitation methods for some species complexes, which indicates the importance of species and locality sampling as well as the previous alpha taxonomic knowledge in avoiding result bias. In this sense, we tried to standardize the identification provided for the Genbank sequences used in most relevant publications for Eois, in order to minimize biases and maximize the replicability of analyses in future studies. Moreover, we stress the importance of an integrative taxonomic approach for cryptic species discovery approach by employing both morphological attributes and life history to corroborate molecular analysis. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/24663-4 - Biogeographic and diversification patterns of the butterflies from Highlands of Southeastern Brazil
• Grantee: Luiza de Moraes Magaldi
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• FAPESP's process: 13/50297-0 - Dimensions US-BIOTA São Paulo: a multidisciplinary framework for biodiversity prediction in the Brazilian Atlantic forest hotspot
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• FAPESP's process: 15/17047-5 - Inventory of herbivores in Piperaceae species
• Grantee: Simeão de Souza Moraes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 16/20196-5 - Morphological, molecular diversity and tribal assignment of the genus Eois Hübner 1818 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Larentiinae)
• Grantee: Simeão de Souza Moraes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• FAPESP's process: 11/50225-3 - Natural history, phylogeny and conservation of Neotropical Lepidoptera
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