Abstract
Davidina, an enigmatic butterfly genus described from China in the 19th century, has been long time considered a member of the family Pieridae due to its pierid-like wing pattern. In the 20th century, it was transferred to the family Satyridae (now subfamily Satyrinae of Nymphalidae) based on analysis of genitalia structure and placed next to the species-rich genus Oeneis (subtribe Satyrina), being separated from the latter by supposed differences in wing venation. Here we conducted phylogenetic and taxonomic study of the subtribe Satyrina using analysis of molecular and morphological characters. We show that the genus Oeneis is not monophyletic, and consists of two non-sister, genetically diverged and morphologically differentiated groups (Oeneis s.s. and Protoeneis). We also demonstrate that Davidina is closely related to Protoeneis, not to Oeneis s.s. To avoid the discovered non-monophyly and morphological heterogeneity, several species should be extracted from Oeneis and transferred to the genus Davidina. As a consequence, we conclude that the name Protoeneis Gorbunov, 2001 is congeneric with Davidina Oberthür, 1879. We also conclude that Davidina is not a monotypic Chinese endemic genus as it has been previously supposed, but is composed of nine species and has a broad distribution area in the Holarctic region including Europe and America.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Abbreviations
- HT
- holotype
- LT
- lectotype
- ST
- syntype
- TL
- type locality
- TM
- type material
Museums and institutes
- AMNH
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA.
- BMNH
- Natural History Museum, London, England [formerly British Museum (Natural History)].
- CM
- Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
- CNC
- Canadian National Collection, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
- FMNH
- Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA.
- HUS
- Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
- MAKB
- Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany.
- NRS
- Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden.
- SMF
- Senckenbergmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- SZM
- Siberian Zoological Museum, Novosibirsk, Russia.
- USNM
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., USA.
- ZISP
- Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia.
- ZMHU
- Zoologisches Museum, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.