Potential influence of Mesozoic and Tertiary tectonics on the evolution of European Hepialidae (Lepidoptera)

John Grehan,Svyatoslav Knyazev

doi:10.21426/b634143499

Abstract

Author(s): Grehan, John; Knyazev, Svyatoslav | Abstract: The distributions of genera and species of Hepialidae in Europe are documented and mapped, along with species distributions extending to eastern Asia. Patterns of species allopatry in Korscheltellus, Pharmacis, and Triodia are consistent with vicariance resulting from late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic tectonics along the Alpine-Mediterranean Mobile Belt. Widespread northern and sympatric distributions are interpreted as the result of range expansion at the end of the Pleistocene. We suggest that the origin of high elevation endemic species of Hepialidae, particularly in the European Alps, is the result of passive tectonic uplift. Pleistocene cooling and glaciation is seen as responsible for extinction of populations in northern Europe, but without discernible impact on divergence. Absence of the northern Eurasian Hepialidae further south is attributed to an original Laurasian ancestral distribution in the Mesozoic. Fossil-calibrated divergence estimates generate minimum clade ages only, and current estimates for some European Hepialidae probably considerably underestimate their phylogenetic age.

Highlights

Within Lepidoptera, the Coleolepida comprises most of the family and species diversity
The European Hepialidae include Hepialus humuli Linnaeus, 1758, among the first species classified by Linnaeus, along with five other genera – Korscheltellus Börner, 1920, Pharmacis Hübner, 1820, Phymatopus Wallengren, 1869, Triodia Hübner, [1820], and Zenophassus Tindale, 1941
Based on the haplotype variation, the distribution range of Hepialus humuli north of the European Alps has been interpreted by Simonsen & Huemer (2014) as the result of range expansion following Pleistocene glaciation

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Within Lepidoptera, the Coleolepida comprises most of the family and species diversity. The fossil, molecular, and biogeographic evidence support differentiation of the Hepialidae by the middle Mesozoic and divergence of some modern species by the late Mesozoic (Grehan & Mielke 2018a). The European Hepialidae include Hepialus humuli Linnaeus, 1758, among the first species classified by Linnaeus, along with five other genera – Korscheltellus Börner, 1920, Pharmacis Hübner, 1820, Phymatopus Wallengren, 1869, Triodia Hübner, [1820], and Zenophassus Tindale, 1941 Their phylogenetic relationships remain unresolved, but a close affinity has been suggested between Korscheltellus and Pharmacis (Kallies & Farino 2018), and between Zenophassus and Hepialus (Grehan 2012a). In this article we combine the current distributional information from published and unpublished sources to analyse the biogeographic structure of the hepialid fauna of Europe and examine some of the tectonic implications for their divergence

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS

DISCUSSION