Phylogenetics and divergence times of Papilioninae (Lepidoptera) with special reference to the enigmatic genera Teinopalpus and Meandrusa

© The Willi Hennig Society 2010. ABSTRACT: Phylogenetic relationships of 18 genera of the swallowtail subfamily Papilioninae, four genera of Parnassiinae, and the monobasic Baroniinae are inferred based on 94 morphological characters and 5616 bp DNA from seven genes (16S, COI, COII, ND1, ND5, EF-1 alpha and wingless). Bayesian likelihood analyses show that Baroniinae are the sister of a clade comprising Parnassiinae and Papilioninae. Four Papilioninae tribes are recognized, Leptocircini, Teinopalpini, Papilionini and Troidini, with Leptocircini being the sister of the remaining tribes. Meandrusa and Teinopalpus are sister taxa and comprise the tribe Teinopalpini, which is the sister of a clade comprising Papilionini and Troidini. The tribe Troidini (pipevine swallowtails) comprises two subtribes: Battina (including only Battus) and Troidina. The endemic Madagascan genus Pharmacophagus is consistently placed as the sister to the remaining Troidina. The non-Pharmacophagus Troidina are tentatively divided into a Neotropical lineage and an Australasian lineage. Dispersal-vicariance analyses indicate that past dispersal events are most important for explaining current distribution patterns of Papilionidae. However, the division of the non-Pharmacophagus Troidina into a Neotropical lineage and an Australasian lineage is possibly due to the final break-up of southern Gondwana. A fossil-calibrated relaxed Bayesian molecular clock analysis confirms that the ages of the lineages fit this scenario. The basal lineages leading to the current subfamily-level diversity of Papilionidae probably arose around the K/T boundary. Analyses of larval host-plant relationships within Papilionidae show very little phylogenetic pattern. However, Aristolochiaceae-feeding apparently evolved independently in non-Parnassiini parnassiines and Troidini.