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Monday, 15 November 2004 - 8:42 AM
0014
Progress toward a molecular phylogeny of the hawkmoths of the world (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)
Akito Y. Kawahara, kawahara@umd.edu1, Andre A. Mignault, mignault@genetics.med.harvard.edu2, Jerome C. Regier3, Charles Mitter1, and Ian J. Kitching4. (1) University of Maryland, Department of Entomology, 4112 Plant Sciences Building, College Park, MD, (2) Harvard Medical School, Department of Genetics, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, New Research Building, Boston, MA, (3) University of Maryland, Center for Biosystems Research, 5140 Plant Sciences Building, College Park, MD, (4) The Natural History Museum, Department of Entomology, Cromwell Road, London, South Kensington, United Kingdom
The hawkmoths (Sphingidae) are a cosmopolitan group of conspicuous moths showing marked variation in both larval and adult life histories. We first test Kitching and Caidou’s (2000) classification of the Sphingidae by estimating phylogenetic trees from sequences of the nuclear genes Elongation Factor 1-Alpha (EF1-α) and Dopa Decarboxylase (DDC) for approximately 60 exemplar species plus outgroups. We then use the phylogeny to consider the hypothesized evolutionary correlation between adult feeding and longevity, as inferred from proboscis length, and the number and kinds of hostplants used by larvae.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Sphingidae Manduca sexta (tobacco hornworm)
Species 2: Lepidoptera Sphingidae Hyles lineata (whitelined sphinx)
Keywords: Sphinx moths, Hawk moths
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