Large-scale genomic data reveal the phylogeny and evolution of owlet moths (Noctuoidea)

Owlet moths (Noctuoidea; ~43–45K described species; Nieukerken et al. 2011) are one of the most ecologically diverse and speciose superfamilies of animals. Moreover, they comprise some of the world’s most notorious pests of agriculture and forestry. Despite their contributions to terrestrial biodiversity and impacts on ecosystems and economies, the evolutionary history of Noctuoidea remains unclear because the superfamily lacks a statistically robust phylogenetic and temporal framework. We reconstructed the phylogeny of Noctuoidea using data from 1,234 genes (946.4 kb of nucleotides) obtained from the genome and transcriptome sequences of 76 species representing all six families. Relationships among the families of Noctuoidea were well resolved and consistently recovered based on both concatenation and gene coalescence approaches, supporting the following relationships: Oenosandridae + (Notodontidae + (Erebidae + (Nolidae + (Euteliidae + Noctuidae)))). A Yule tree prior with three unlin...