Abstract
Heraclides rumiko Shiraiwa & Grishin, sp. n. is described from southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America (type locality: USA, Texas, Duval County). It is closely allied to Heraclides cresphontes (Cramer, 1777) and the two species are sympatric in central Texas. The new species is diagnosed by male genitalia and exhibits a nearly 3% difference from Heraclides cresphontes in the COI DNA barcode sequence of mitochondrial DNA. The two Heraclides species can usually be told apart by the shape and size of yellow spots on the neck, by the wing shape, and the details of wing patterns. “Western Giant Swallowtail” is proposed as the English name for Heraclides rumiko. To stabilize nomenclature, neotype for Papilio cresphontes Cramer, 1777, an eastern United States species, is designated from Brooklyn, New York, USA; and lectotype for Papilio thoas Linnaeus, 1771 is designated from Suriname. We sequenced DNA barcodes and ID tags of nearly 400 Papilionini specimens completing coverage of all Heraclides species. Comparative analyses of DNA barcodes, genitalia, and facies suggest that Heraclides oviedo (Gundlach, 1866), reinstated status, is a species-level taxon rather than a subspecies of Heraclides thoas (Linnaeus, 1771); and Heraclides pallas (G. Gray, [1853]), reinstated status, with its subspecies Heraclides Papilio bajaensis (J. Brown & Faulkner, 1992), comb. n., and Heraclides anchicayaensis Constantino, Le Crom & Salazar, 2002, stat. n., are not conspecific with Heraclides astyalus (Godart, 1819).
Highlights
Swallowtails (Papilionidae Latreille, [1802]) are arguably the best-known and beststudied butterflies due to their large size, dazzling colors, and elegant shapes
In agreement with Lewis et al (2014), we find that the Greater Antilles endemics H. aristor (Godart, 1819) and H. caiguanabus (Poey, [1852]) are closely allied to the above-mentioned species, despite their striking difference in appearance due to the lack of a central band on their wings
We assembled evidence that the North American southwest, from California to central Texas and south to Panama, is inhabited by its sister cryptic species (Bickford et al 2007) that we named H. rumiko. It is rather unusual for such a large butterfly species to remain unnamed, at least as a subspecies, but its superficial similarity to H. cresphontes is a likely explanation
Summary
Swallowtails (Papilionidae Latreille, [1802]) are arguably the best-known and beststudied butterflies due to their large size, dazzling colors, and elegant shapes. The family is still plagued with taxonomic difficulties and is rich in evolutionary puzzles (Zakharov et al 2004, Kawahara and Breinholt 2014). From the origins of mimicry to speciation through hybridization, swallowtails are becoming a model group for evolutionary biology and genomics (Kunte et al 2011, Zhang et al 2013, Kunte et al 2014). Pioneering molecular studies by Sperling’s group shed light on their phylogeny and speciation, and revealed unsuspected complexities in relationships within the family (Sperling and Harrison 1994, Caterino and Sperling 1999, Zakharov et al 2004, Simonsen et al 2011). The family is continuing to surprise us with its complexity and nuances (Lewis et al 2014)
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