A Monograph of the Nymphidiina (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae: Nymphidiini): Phylogeny, Taxonomy, Biology, and Biogeography

Description:

This extensive monograph provides a comprehensive phylogenetic revisions of the 26 butterfly genera (159 species) recognized in the riodinid subtribe Nymphidiina (including the genera Catocyclotis, Nymphidium, Livendula, Periplacis, Zelotaea, Adelotypa, Calospila, and Setabis). It contains descriptions of eight new genera, 11 new species, and four new subspecies. The revision is supported by 16 separate phylogenetic analyses using a total of 568 characters of adult morphology and biology. The work incorporates extensive new geographic and biological data resulting from museum research examining nearly 27,000 specimens in 42 museums and private collections worldwide, and fieldwork that included spending 20 months in Ecuador over a period of 26 years.

Introductory chapters give information on the history of classification and diagnosis of the tribe and its subtribes, biology (including habitats and patterns of elevational species richness, phenology, rarity, mate location and courtship, mimicry, nutritional ecology, and food plants and immature stages), biogeography (including patterns of regional and community species richness, and patterns of speciation), and conservation (regional analyses and status of threatened taxa). The work is illustrated by 39 colour plates, including 33 plates of adults for identification, three plates of adults in nature, and three plates of mimetic adults. It furthermore contains a total of 1121 numbered or lettered figures, including 38 cladograms, 65 figures of immature-stage morphology and ecology, 302 male and female genitalia figures, and 73 distribution maps, as well as 66 numbered or component tables.