Taxonomy is the science of naming, describing, and classifying plants, animals, fungi, and microbes based on shared characteristics such as morphology, genetics, and behavior. Today, March 19th, is World Taxonomist Appreciation Day. It is celebrated on this day annually to honor the scientists who classify and name the world’s biodiversity.

The McGuire Center houses a large Lepidoptera collection. While news releases mostly capture the wide variety of cutting-edge research conducted at our Center, most of us are still engaged, at least occasionally, in simply documenting new species, or clarifying their taxonomic positions.

Here are 24 recent taxonomic works published by researchers at the Center and using specimens from our collection:

1. Willmott, K.R., Lamas, G., Hall, J.P., Mota, L.L. and Kell, T., 2020. The common, the rare, and the lost: Descriptions of twelve new species and three new subspecies of equatorial Ithomiini (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Danainae). Tropical Lepidoptera Research, pp.1-49.

willmott

 

2. Páez V, E., Kergoat, G.J., Chazot, N., Benmesbah, M., Briscoe, A.D., Finkbeiner, S.D., Freitas, A.V., Guralnick, R.P., Hill, R.I., Kronforst, M.R. and Magaldi, L.M., 2026. Phylogeny, systematics and evolution of mimicry patterns in Neotropical limenitidine butterflies. Systematic Entomology, 51(1), p.e70007.

Adelphina

 

3. Sajan, K.C., McGuire, W.W., Willmott, K.R., Sapkota, A. and Shirey, V.M., 2026. A new species of Tequila Giant Skipper Aegiale C. Felder & R. Felder, 1860 (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae, Megathymina) from Sonora, Mexico. ZooKeys, 1272, pp.157-171.

skippers

 

4. Martinez, J.I., Homziak, N.T., Pierson, T.L., Campo, R.J., Plotkin, D.M. and Castillo-Argaez, R.J., 2026. Revision of the comose flame moths of the genus Sosxetra Walker (Noctuidae, Dyopsinae), with descriptions of a new genus and three new species. ZooKeys, 1268,  pp.227-248.

martinez

 

5. Hayden, J.E., 2025. Cladistic analysis of Lathrotelinae Clarke and descriptions of new taxa (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). Insect Systematics & Evolution, 56(5), pp.517-555.

hayden1

 

6. Hayden, J., Matthews, D.L., Brown, J., Timm, A. and Neal, M.X., 2025. A new species of Gymnandrosoma Dyar from Florida, USA, the Bahamas, and Central America (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Tropical Lepidoptera Research, pp.48-57.

hayden2

 

7. Jeong, I.W., Kim, S. and Heppner, J.B., 2025. A Non-Destructive Method, Micro-CT, Supports the Identification of Three New Casmara Species from Sumatra and Taiwan (Lepidoptera: Ashinagidae). Insects, 16(8), p.747.

heppner

 

8. Lvarez, Y., Nez, R., Magaldi, L.D.M., Matthews, D., Freitas, A.V.L. and Espeland, M., 2025. Phenotypes, natural history and barcodes unveil cryptic species within the Caribbean Metalmark Dianesia carteri (Holland)(Lepidoptera: Riodinidae). Zootaxa, 5686(1), pp.5-48.

metalmarks

 

9. Miller, J.Y., Matthews, D.L. and Gott, R.J., 2022. Three new species of Cautethia Grote (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) from the Lucayan Archipelago and keys to West Indies species. Insecta Mundi 0937: 1-28.

sphingids

 

10. Sourakov, A., Zhang, J., Cong, Q., Song, L. and Grishin, N.V., 2022. Erythrina stem borer moth in California–New taxonomic status and implications for control of this emerging pest. Journal of Applied Entomology, 146(10), pp.1225-1229.

Terastia

 

11. Kobayashi, S., Johns, C.A. and Kawahara, A.Y., 2021. Revision of the Hawaiian endemic leaf-mining moth genus Philodoria Walsingham (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae): its conservation status, host plants and descriptions of thirteen new species. Zootaxa, 4944(1).

Kobayashi

 

12. Plotkin, D., Breinholt, J.W. and Kawahara, A.Y., 2025. A target capture‐based phylogeny of emerald moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Geometrinae) provides new insights into tribal‐level classification. Systematic Entomology, 50(4), pp.920-939.

plotkin

 

13. Park, K.T. and Heppner, J.B., 2023. Review of the genera Thubana Walker and Torodora Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Lecithoceridae) from Sumatra, Indonesia. Zootaxa, 5256(5), pp.434-456.

kt-heppner

 

14. Heppner, J.B. and Bae, Y.S., 2023. New species of colorful tineids from Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam in the new genus Vangatinea (Lepidoptera: Tineidae: Erechthiinae). Zootaxa, 5264(3), pp.369-380.

heppner-bae

 

15. Zhang, J., Cong, Q., Shen, J., Song, L., Gott, R.J., Boyer, P., Guppy, C.S., Kohler, S., Lamas, G., Opler, P.A. and Grishin, N.V., 2022. Taxonomic discoveries enabled by genomic analysis of butterflies. The taxonomic report of the International Lepidoptera Survey, 10(7), p.1.

zhang-gott-

 

16. Hall, J.P. and Willmott, K.R., 2024. A new montane Stalachtis Hübner species from the Cordillera del Cóndor in southeastern Ecuador (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae: Nymphidiini). Tropical Lepidoptera Research, pp.114-117.

hall-willmott

 

17. Pyrcz, T.W., Boyer, P., Petit, J.C., Garlacz, R., Zając-Garlacz, K.S., Espeland, M. and Willmott, K.R., 2024. Bedazzled: a new, striking species of Corades from the outskirts of Quito questions our knowledge of Andean cloud forest butterflies (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae). Zootaxa, 5453(2), pp.255-262.

pyrcz-et al

 

18. St Laurent, R.A., Goldstein, P.Z., Miller, J.S., Markee, A., Staude, H.S., Kawahara, A.Y., Miller, S.E. and Robbins, R.K., 2023. Phylogenetic systematics, diversification, and biogeography of Cerurinae (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae) and a description of a new genus. Insect systematics and diversity, 7(2), p.3.

Americerura

 

19. Bayarsaikhan, U., Heppner, J.B., Bucsek, K., Cha, Y.B., Bae, Y.S. and Kwon, H.W., 2023. Contribution to Knowledge of the Oriental Taxa of the Diduga (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae). Forests, 14(5), p.889.

Diduga

 

20. Espeland, M., Nakahara, S., Zacca, T., Barbosa, E.P., Huertas, B., Marín, M.A., Lamas, G., Benmesbah, M., Brévignon, C., Casagrande, M.M., Fåhraeus, C., Nick Grishin, Akito Y. Kawahara, Olaf H. H. Mielke, Jacqueline Y. Miller, Ichiro Nakamura, Vanessa Navas, Brooke Patrusky, Tomasz W. Pyrcz, Lindsay Richards, Denise Tan, Stephanie Tyler, Ángel Viloria, Andrew D. Warren, Lei Xiao, André V. L. Freitas, Keith R. Willmott. 2023. Combining target enrichment and Sanger sequencing data to clarify the systematics of the diverse Neotropical butterfly subtribe Euptychiina (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae). Systematic Entomology, 48(4), pp.498-570.

Argentaria

 

21.Núñez, R., Álvarez, Y., Miller, J.Y., Lott, D.M., Fernández, D.M. and Espeland, M., 2024. A new species of Choranthus Scudder (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae) from northeastern Cuba. Tropical Lepidoptera Research, pp.122-133.

nunez

 

22.Warren, A.D. and Gott, R.J., 2021. A review of Polites rhesus (WH Edwards, 1878), with the description of a new subspecies from Mexico (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae). Tropical Lepidoptera Research, pp.11-21.gott warren

 

23. Warren, A.D., Gott, R.J. and McGuire, W.W., 2021. A review of Hesperia uncas WH Edwards, 1863 in Mexico, with the description of a new subspecies (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae). Tropical Lepidoptera Research, pp.70-79.

gott-warren-mcguire

 

24.Warren, A.D. and Gott, R.J., 2021. Four new species of Piruna Evans, 1955 from western Mexico (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Heteropterinae). Tropical Lepidoptera Research, pp.101-117.

priuna

Our collection is also used by numerous other taxonomists around the world and is a source of images featured on various taxonomic websites, such as Butterflies of America, Moth Photographers Group, African Moths, and many others.