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Recent advances in tiger moth phylogenomics and implications for the evolution of anti-bat sonar jamming
Presented by: Nick Dowdy, Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Abstract: It has been over a decade since laboratory experiments demonstrated that tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae), specifically Bertholdia trigona (Grote, 1879), are capable of thwarting bat predation by disrupting, or “jamming” bat sonar. How widespread this unique anti-predator defense is and its evolutionary origins have remained a mystery. To answer these questions, we use phylogenomics to resolve a nearly complete genus-level phylogeny of the subtribes Phaegopterina (~175 genera; >1800 species) and Pericopina (~41 genera; >360 species). Using both direct observations and museum specimen-based morphometric inference, we characterize the acoustic behaviors for hundreds of taxa. Our results support the hypothesis that sonar jamming has independently evolved numerous times from aposematic origins within this diverse clade of neotropical moths. As part of this work, significant problems were discovered with the current classification of many arctiines, particularly at the subtribal and genus level. I will conclude with an overview of these issues and discuss some future directions of our work.
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Thomas C. Emmel Seminar Series presents: Expanding Horizons in Lepidoptera Research
Continuing from Fall 2020, the McGuire Center is hosting this webinar series as an opportunity for both early career researchers as well as established leaders in the field to present their work. We hope that you will join us to hear about current advances in many diverse fields of Lepidoptera research.