Phylogenetic assessment of the lichen-feeding tiger moth subtribe Cisthenina (Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini) by combining anchored hybrid enrichment data with traditional loci

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Presenting Author(s)

Makani L. Fisher

Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana

Co-Author(s)

Nicolas J. Dowdy

Milwaukee Public Museum
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
AL

Alan R. Lemmon

Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
EL

Emily M. Lemmon

Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
Andrew Sweet

Arkansas State University
Jonesboro, Arkansas
SC

Stephen Cameron

Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
Jennifer Zaspel

Milwaukee Public Museum
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Lichens are intrinsically resistant to herbivory due to their production of secondary defensive compounds. Nevertheless, lichen-feeding arthropods co-occur with lichens worldwide. While many kinds of arthropods feed on lichen, there are critical gaps in our understanding of how they fit into broader evolutionary and ecological contexts. The lichen-feeding tiger moth subtribe Cisthenina (Arctiinae: Lithosiini) is an ideal lineage to address these knowledge gaps because several of its members have been used in ecological and behavioral studies. However, many of the evolutionary relationships within the subtribe remain unknown. Here we explored the use of a recently developed anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) probe set in resolving genus level relationships within this subtribe. We sampled representatives of 13 of the 46 currently described genera, 28% of the generic diversity. Many taxa also have publicly available DNA sequence data representing molecular loci commonly used in phylogenetic reconstruction of Lepidoptera. We attempted to integrate 8 of these traditional loci (CO1, 28S, CAD, CYTB, EF1a, IDH, RpS5, and wg) into an AHE backbone to increase taxon sampling. Our final dataset thus consisted of 30 genera, 65% of the generic diversity, more than doubling the genus-level representation of the AHE-only dataset. Using this dataset and a maximum likelihood phylogenetic approach, we created a robust, genus-level phylogeny. Through continued sampling we anticipate utilizing this technique at the species level.