Phylogeny, divergence times, and biogeography of the subfamily Tagiadinae (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) based on molecular data and morphological characters.

This article focuses on resolving the phylogenetic relationships within the skipper butterfly subfamily Tagiadinae using integrated molecular and morphological data. The study analyzed three datasets—molecular sequences from three genes (COI, COII, EF-1α) across 92 species, morphological traits from 50 species, and a combined dataset of 46 species—to reconstruct phylogenies and estimate divergence times. Results support the monophyly of Tagiadinae and its three tribes (Netrocorynini, Celaenorrhinini, and Tagiadini), with Netrocorynini consistently recovered as the basal lineage of the subfamily. Divergence time estimates place the crown age of Tagiadinae at approximately 37 million years, originating in the Indo-Malayan region. The findings provide a more comprehensive evolutionary framework for Tagiadinae and challenge some previous hypotheses about tribal relationships within this group of skipper butterflies.