Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Sihvonen, Pasi Markus

Titel

Diversity and classification of the Scopulini (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Sterrhinae)

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

Erscheinungsjahr

2003

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• A thorough analysis of the genealogical relationships among a set of taxa, i.e. their phylogeny, is a prerequisite for all biological studies involved in the study of evolution. If such evolutionary studies are not based on natural evolutionary entities, such as synapomorphy-based genus or tribe but instead on some arbitrary groupings, the results are nothing but misleading and questionable. In this study I have investigated phylogenetic relationships and systematics of the species-rich group of the geometrid subfamily Sterrhinae, especially the Scopulini. These moths are found world-wide, and in this study about 75% of the known fauna of over 900 species were studied in detail. A hypothesis of evolutionary history of this group was conducted by studying morphological variation of numerous structures from adult and immature stages. The phylogenetic analyses were based on cladistic methodology, and the resulting hypotheses were used for the generic and tribal classification of these moths. The results of this thesis were that species revisions, which are based on detailed examination of morphology, are necessary and that many species remain undescribed, especially in genus Scopula. Further, earlier proposed phylogenetic relationships of Sterrhinae tribes were largely in agreement with these results, but it was shown that the generic relationships of Scopulini have been subject to unjustified splitting. Consequently, in the classification that I propose the number of recovered genera is reduced considerably. Finally, it was demonstrated that species diversity of Scopulini is likely to be highest in tropical areas although there are significant differences between biogeographical regions. To conclude, the proposed synapomorphy-based classification lays the foundation for applied research interests and also that the high species diversity of geometrid moths is manageable with reasonable resources if the study group is clearly defined.