Expanded molecular phylogeny of the genus <i>Bicyclus</i> (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) shows the importance of increased sampling for detecting semi-cryptic species and highlights potentials for future studies

The genus <i>Bicyclus</i> is one of the largest groups of African butterflies, but due to the generally cryptic nature and seasonal variation of adult wing patterns, there has been a lot of systematic confusion. With a large research community working with the model species <i>Bicyclus anynana</i> there has been increasing interest in the evolutionary history of the genus. A previous phylogeny started to unravel interesting patterns, but only included 61% of the then known species. With a range of new species having been described in the last decade there has been a need for an updated phylogeny for the genus. We present the most complete phylogeny of <i>Bicyclus</i> yet, including 93% of the currently 103 recognized species and make a range of taxonomic revisions. We revise the status of four previous subspecies and synonymized taxa that in the light of the new genetic data are raised to species level. We also subsume two subspecies and describe a new species, <i>Bicyclus collinsi</i> sp. nov., based on both genetic and morphological evidence. A further new taxon is identified, but not described at this point due to lack of morphological data. Our phylogeny lays a solid foundation for better understanding the evolution of <i>Bicyclus</i> and highlights key species-groups and complexes with intriguing ecological patterns making them prime candidates for future studies. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:2F775351-097E-4CD7-8F8F-A90B26D52DE8眼蝶属（Bicyclus）是非洲最大的蝴蝶类群之一，但由于其成虫翅斑普遍具有隐蔽性且存在季节型变异，该类群长期存在分类学混乱。由于有众多科研团队以模式物种泽兰眼蝶（Bicyclus anynana）为研究对象，学界对该属的演化历史愈发关注。此前已有一项系统发育研究揭示了部分有趣的演化模式，但仅涵盖了当时已知物种的61%。过去十年间已有多个新种被正式发表，因此该属亟需更新的系统发育研究。本研究构建了目前最完整的眼蝶属系统发育框架，涵盖当前已确认的103个物种中的93%，并开展了一系列分类学修订工作。我们对4个此前的亚种及曾被归为异名的类群的分类地位进行了修订，结合新的遗传学数据将其提升至物种级。此外，我们归并了2个亚种，并基于遗传学与形态学证据描述了新种Bicyclus collinsi sp. nov.。另有1个新类群被确认，但因缺乏形态学数据暂未正式描述。本研究的系统发育结果为深入理解眼蝶属的演化历程奠定了坚实基础，同时凸显了多个具备特殊生态模式的核心物种类群与复合类群，使其成为未来相关研究的优先候选对象。http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:2F775351-097E-4CD7-8F8F-A90B26D52DE8

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集提供了Bicyclus属蝴蝶的分子系统发育数据，涵盖了该属93%的已知物种（共103种），是迄今为止最完整的系统发育研究。研究通过增加采样揭示了半隐蔽物种，并进行了多项分类学修订，包括描述新物种和提升亚种为物种级别，为理解该属的进化提供了重要基础。