Revised status ofChlorideaDuncan and (Westwood), 1841, for theHeliothis virescensspecies group (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Heliothinae) based on morphology and three genes

Abstract

AbstractThe Heliothinae comprise some of the world's most injurious agricultural pests. This study reanalyses a subsample of theHeliothisgroup to determine the monophyly ofChloridea(Heliothis virescensandH. subflexa). Two nuclear gene regions,elongation factor‐1α(EF‐1α; 1240 bp) anddopa decarboylase(DDC; 687 bp), and the barcoding region of mitochondrialcytochrome oxidase I(COI; 708 bp) were used in this analysis for a total of 2635 bp and a morphological dataset of 20 characters and 62 character states. Sixteen species representing five genera plus two outgroup species were used in the analysis. Analyses used were Maximum Parsimony (MP), Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI). The revised status for the monophyletic genusChlorideaDuncan and (Westwood) was supported by a very strong bootstrap support (BP = 98–100). Larval host‐plant usage is discussed within theHeliothisclade. Polyphagy is most likely the ancestral condition with a host shift to monophagy and oligophagy. Based on known larval hosts,Heliocheilusis oligophagous on Poaceae. Traits of host plant use inHelicoverpaandChlorideawhere both polyphagy and oligophagy occur in closely related species are discussed.