Biology subjects

Wahlberg, N.

Publications and source records attributed to Wahlberg, N..

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Contrasting signatures of interspecific gene flow in the Atlantic Forest endemic butterfly Heliconius besckei

Gene flow between diverging species can reshuffle genomic variation and greatly influence the speciation process, sometimes reinforcing, sometimes eroding species boundaries. However, the effect of ecological and historical processes on the patterns of introgression remains poorly understood. Here, we focus on the evolutionary history of Heliconius besckei, a geographically restricted butterfly endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, together with the mimetic H. melpomene nanna, the sympatric non-mimetic H. ethilla narcaea, and its closely related H. numata robigus. Using whole-genome sequencing, genome-wide tests of introgression, demographic modelling and palaeoclimatic species distribution models, we tested the extent and timing of interspecific gene flow in relation to mimicry, ecological context, and changes in geographic overlap. Despite strong genomic differentiation among the four focal Heliconius species, we detected widespread signatures of interspecific gene flow, greatly influenced by geographical overlap. Demographic models including post-divergence gene flow were better supported than strict-isolation models. In addition, genome-wide introgression analyses showed more numerous and larger candidate introgressed regions between H. besckei and H. ethilla narcaea, consistent with recurrent opportunities for exchange between these currently sympatric species. Species distribution models further recovered repeated expansions of suitable habitat for H. besckei during cold periods, providing a potential geographic context for secondary contact within the Atlantic Forest. Together, our results reveal recurrent gene flow occurring under different temporal, geographic, and potentially selective contexts, and show that the evolutionary history of a geographically restricted lineage can be shaped by repeated genetic exchange while substantial species differentiation is maintained.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Mixture Models Unveil the Origin of the Enigmatic Satyrine Butterfly Genera Calisto and Llorenteana (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae).

We provide the first comprehensive analysis of the origin of two enigmatic Satyrinae genera of uncertain affinities. Calisto, the only Satyrinae genus from the West Indies and endemic to these islands, has resisted numerous attempts at phylogenetic placement, regardless of the data type or methods used. Llorenteana, a monotypic genus from northwestern Mexico, has never been included in a molecular phylogenetic study, and past authors have placed it in five different genera and subtribes. We used mostly published genomic data, but also newly sequenced whole genome data from museum specimens and old DNA extracts, extracted BUSCO genes and prepared several datasets. These datasets differed in the degree of heterogeneity and saturation, the number of nucleotide positions used (all positions or only the first two), and were analyzed as nucleotides or as amino acids. We employed several methods for phylogenetic reconstruction using both partitioned and mixture models, as well as ASTRAL, and we inferred divergence times and ancestral areas of origin for Calisto and Llorenteana. The phylogenetic placement of Calisto varied among datasets when we used partitioned models and ASTRAL; however, most datasets resulted in the same relationships under mixture models. Our results suggest that Calisto is part of a clade of Old World origin that colonized the New World from north to south, thus sharing ancestry with Nearctic taxa. Llorenteana constitutes one of the earliest splits within the Euptychiina, a subtribe of Neotropical origin, but descending together with the Pronophilina from Nearctic ancestors. We propose the recognition of Erebiina stat. rev. as the only subtribe comprising the former Calistina syn. nov., Callerebiina syn. nov, Maniolina syn. nov., and Ypthimina syn. nov.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Environmental Variation Promotes Convergent Evolution and Rapid Diversification of Wing Shape and Color in Skipper Butterflies

Predation is a key driver of speciation and phenotypic diversification, yet how antipredator traits evolve and persist over evolutionary time remains poorly understood. We generated target sequence capture and whole-genome sequencing data for the skipper butterfly subfamily Eudaminae (Hesperiidae) to test whether antipredator defenses, in interaction with environmental variation, promote diversification. We focus on two antipredation wing traits: hindwing tails, which deflect predator attacks, and blue-green coloration, which may enhance motion dazzle and be used as warning coloration. Applying phylogenomics, morphometrics, and comparative methods, we model trait evolution in relation to diel activity and geographic distribution and find that hindwing tails repeatedly evolved at least seven times and blue-green coloration at least fifteen times. Both traits are associated with elevated speciation rates, but evolutionary transitions toward tailless wings and non-iridescent coloration occurred more frequently than trait gains, indicating high evolutionary lability of these antipredator defenses. Trait loss, particularly pronounced in tropical diurnal species, may reflect trade-offs in flight performance, shifts in predation guilds, or the evolution of alternative defensive traits. Our findings highlight rampant convergent evolution of wing traits that are under strong predator-mediated selection. By identifying how antipredator defenses and environmental contexts influence phenotypic and species diversification, this study provides new insights into the ecological and evolutionary processes underlying insect diversity.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Phylogeny, systematics and evolution of mimicry patterns in Neotropical limenitidine butterflies

The Neotropical butterfly genus Adelpha Hubner exhibits remarkable species diversity and striking convergence in wing colour patterns potentially explained by mimicry, making it an exceptional model for exploring trait evolution and its relationship with speciation. To date, unresolved phylogenetic relationships hinder a comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary biology of the genus. Using a novel multi-marker dataset combining one mitochondrial and 15 nuclear gene fragments, we generate the most comprehensive phylogeny of the genus Adelpha to revisit its systematics and investigate the evolution of mimicry colour patterns. Our data set encompasses 83 of the 87 known extant species and six Limenitis species that were recently excluded from Adelpha (134 of c. 160 subspecies in total), collectively displaying 14 distinct mimicry patterns. We provide conclusive evidence that corroborates previous work on the polyphyly of Adelpha as historically conceived, and describe the genus Adelphina Paez & Willmott n. gen. to stabilize the nomenclature, both genera representing Neotropical limenitidines. The comprehensive phylogeny provided in this study lays a solid foundation for future research into the processes driving diversification within these species interacting through mimicry. Ancestral character state reconstruction reveals gradual evolution of mimicry pattern. The more common mimicry pattern IPHICLUS (forewing with orange subapical spot and white band) is inferred as ancestral, but repeated convergent evolution is also recovered. Evolutionary convergence is also observed for the second most abundant mimicry pattern, COCALA (orange-white banded). Increased rates of mimicry pattern evolution are also found toward the equator. These results underscore the complexity of mimicry evolution in the Neotropical limenitidines i.e., Adelpha and Adelphina, emphasizing the need to explore its interplay with other biotic and abiotic factors.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Species-specific loss of genetic diversity and accumulation of genetic load following agricultural intensification

Land-use change from agricultural intensification is a major driver of global insect declines. We investigated the genetic consequences of grassland decline in Sweden by sequencing museum and modern specimens of three focal and five additional Polyommatinae butterfly species. From 59 historical and 90 contemporary genomes, we find a 6% decline in genetic diversity and increased isolation and inbreeding in the grassland specialist Cyaniris semiargus over the past 70 years. In contrast, generalist Polyommatus icarus and heathland specialist Plebejus argus maintained genetic diversity and connectivity. Although currently genomic erosion is mild, we infer it lags considerably larger declines in effective population sizes. Using simulations, we demonstrate that only a small portion of genetic diversity is lost in early stages of decline, creating a genetic extinction debt. Two of five additional species show similar reductions, underscoring that restoration of grassland habitat is necessary to restore gene flow and halt further genomic erosion in grassland insects.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2024

Phylogenomics resolves the relationship and the evolutionary history of planthoppers (Insecta: Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha)

Planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha) are a species-rich and globally distributed insect clade with high economic, ecological, and evolutionary importance. However, the relationships among planthopper lineages and families remain unclear. Previous efforts based on inconsistent morphological traits, a few genes, or limited sampling often resulted in conflicting tree topologies. Here, we used genome-level data to assemble 1164 nuclear single-copy genes and 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes for 149 planthopper species representing 19 out of 21 extant families. Additional markers were added from published mitogenomes, expanding our sampling to 285 species. These markers were used for Maximum Likelihood-based tree inference and dating analyses. The newly inferred phylogenies validated well-accepted relationships and recovered novel placements. Taxonomic conclusions include the establishment of a new family Borysthenidae stat. rev. within Delphacoidea and a new superfamily Meenoploidea superfam. nov. including redefined Kinnaridae stat. rev. and Meenoplidae stat. rev., the confirmation of the monophyletic family Achilixiidae outside the Achilidae-Derbidae clade, and the transfer of tribes Lyncidini and Amyclini to Dictyopharidae and the genus Madagascaritia to Fulgoridae. The time analyses based on 57 nuclear markers and 30 fossils dated the origin of crown Fulgoromorpha back to Guadalupian, Permian ([~]263 Ma), close to the maximum constraint at 267.3 Ma, while applying an older root constraint resulted in an origin in Mississippian, Carboniferous ([~]332 Ma). While future sampling of unstudied fauna in unexplored regions or habitats may change the topology, the current phylogenomic analysis will serve as a solid foundation for research into planthopper ecology, evolution, and significance.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2023

One Method to Sequence Them All? Comparison between Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS) and Target Enrichment (TE) of museum specimens from the moth families Epicopeiidae and Sematuridae (Lepidoptera)

There are various possibilities for sequencing highly degraded DNA, such as target enrichment (TE), or whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Here we compare TE and WGS methods using old museum specimens of two families of moths in the superfamily Geometroidea: Epicopeiidae and Sematuridae. Until recently, the relationships of these two families were unclear, as few studies had been done. Recently two studies used the TE approach, either on relatively fresh specimens, or on old museum specimens. Here, we aim to increase the sampling of the families Epicopeiidae and Sematuridae from museum specimens using the WGS method. We show that both sequencing methods give comparable results, but, unsurprisingly, WGS recovers more data. By combining TE and WGS data, we confirm that Sematuridae are sister to Pseudobistonidae+Epicopeiidae. Relationships of genera within the families are well supported. With the costs of WGS decreasing, we suggest that using low-coverage whole genome sequencing is becoming an increasingly viable option in the phylogenomics of insects.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Genome-wide gene birth-death dynamics are associated with diet breadth variation in Lepidoptera

Comparative analyses of gene birth-death dynamics (GBDD) have the potential to reveal gene families that played an important role in the evolution of morphological, behavioral, or physiological variation. Here, we used whole genomes of 30 species of butterflies and moths to identify GBDD among the Lepidoptera that are associated with specialist or generalist feeding strategies. Our work advances this field by using a uniform set of annotated proteins for all genomes, investigating associations while correcting for phylogeny, and assessing all gene familes rather than a priori subsets. We discovered that the sizes of several important gene families (e.g., those associated with pesticide resistance, xenobiotic detoxification, and/or protein digestion) are significantly correlated with diet breadth. We also found 12 gene families showing significant shifts in GBDD at the butterfly (Papilionoidea) crown node, the most notable of which was a family of pheromone receptors that underwent a contraction potentially linked with a shift to visual-based mate recognition. Our findings highlight the importance of uniform annotations, phylogenetic corrections and unbiased gene family analyses in generating a list of candidate genes that warrant further exploration. Significance StatementGene duplications and gene deaths are important for the development of novel traits, but their study is often complicated by methodological issues, such as input data coming from different sources with different biases. Here, we address many of these issues in an analysis of gene duplication and death across 30 species of moths by using standardized, genome-wide input data. Importantly, our analysis uses a model that can correlate gene family sizes with any quantitative trait, while also accounting for relatedness between species. Using this model, we provide novel evolutionary insights by showing that the sizes of several important gene families are correlated with increases or decreases in the number of host plant orders that Lepidoptera eat.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Large-scale assessment of habitat quality and quantity change on declining European butterflies

The rapid decline of biodiversity as a consequence of increased environmental impact by human activities requires urgent action against the ongoing crisis. At the heart of conservation policy is the debate on quality versus quantity: should the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework focus on maximising total protected area, or pursue instead qualitative targets? To improve conservation practices, we need to both understand the current trend of biodiversity and the factors driving the decline. We address this by: (1) projecting current European butterfly population trends for the next 50 and 100 years, (2) comparing the decline in species richness, phylogenetic diversity and habitat specialization among different habitats, and (3) estimating the relationship between recent trends in habitat quality or quantity and the decline of multiple metrics of European butterfly diversity. We do not find any significant relationship between diversity loss and habitat area loss and conclude that neither long-term nor short-term changes in habitat area are primary predictors of large-scale butterfly decline in Europe. Habitat quality emerges as the most crucial factor in our analyses - both the area affected and the severity of habitat quality reduction. Habitat degradation causes vegetation changes in structure and diversity, which affect butterfly survival. We also estimate a higher decline of habitat specialists than generalist species. We conclude that habitat protection cannot focus solely on the maximization of habitat area but urgently needs to restore high quality ecosystems to provide the full range of ecological requirements for biodiversity.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

The phylogenetic placement of an enigmatic moth Egybolis vaillantina based on museomics

Here, we present multi-locus sequencing results from the enigmatic Afrotropical monotypic genus Egybolis Boisduval (occurring in East- and South Africa - previously placed in the subfamily Catocalinae, Noctuidae). Model-based phylogenetic analysis places Egybolis within a strongly supported clade comprising four Old World Tropical genera Cocytia Boisduval, Avatha Walker, Anereuthina Hubner and Serrodes Guenee from the family Erebidae, subfamily Erebinae. Hence, we propose to formally assign the monotypic genus Egybolis to the subfamily Erebinae, and the tribe Cocytiini. Timing of divergence analysis reveals the late Oligocene origin around 25 million years ago (mya) for the tribe Cocytiini, an early Miocene i.e., about 21 mya for the split between Cocytia and Egybolis.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Evolutionary history of Euteliidae (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea)

The Euteliidae stand apart in the Noctuoidea as the second smallest family, but most highly specialized in terms of larval hostplant relationships, favouring plant families with high levels of resin or latex, including the family dominant in Oriental lowland forests, the Dipterocarpaceae. Given the proportionally large foliage biomass represented by dipterocarps, exploitation of this abundant resource by lepidopteran defoliators is surprisingly low, and the Euteliidae may have achieved this through pre-adaption to dipterocarp chemical defences. Therefore, to assess this, we performed a molecular phylogenetic analysis on the family Euteliidae to clarify deep divergences and elucidate evolutionary relationships at the level of the subfamily, tribe, and genus. Our dataset consists of 6.3 kbp of one mitochondrial and seven nuclear DNA loci and was analyzed using model-based phylogenetic methods, i.e., maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. We attempted to diagnose apomorphic morphological character states for Euteliidae and each monophyletic group within the family. Additionally, the evolution of hostplant use was reconstructed and a molecular-dating approach was conducted to assess the ages of major lineages within Euteliidae. We present an updated phylogenetic hypothesis for Euteliidae consisting of two strongly supported subfamilies: Euteliinae and Stictopterinae. Within Stictopterinae there are two tribes: Stictopterini and Odontodini. Several genera (e.g., Targalla, Paectes, Marathyssa, Eutelia) were found to be polyphyletic and require taxonomic revision. Two new genera (Niklastelia and Pellinentelia) are described and several taxonomic changes (e.g., new combinations and new synonymies) are made. The Neotropical genus Thyriodes, currently included in Euteliidae, is found to be associated with Erebinae (Erebidae). The divergence time estimate for the split between the Euteliidae and Noctuidae is at 53 my, and the Euteliidae split into the subfamilies Euteliinae and Stictopterinae at 42 my. In Stictopterinae, the tribes Stictopterini and Odontodini split at 31 my and the Euteliinae began a much more complex diversification at 34 my. Ancestral hostplant reconstruction identified Malpighiales (e.g., Clusiaceae) as the ancestral larval hostplant order for the family Euteliidae. The ancestors of Stictopterinae also appear to have been Malpighiales feeders, but then split into exclusive specialisms on Malvales (Odontodini) and Malpighiales (Stictopterini) hostplants. Larvae of Stictopterini appear to be restricted to Clusiaceae, apart from a few records from Dipterocarpaceae. In Euteliinae, Anacardiaceae are predominant as larval hosts. Thus, all hosts in the family are lactiferous, possibly providing some degree of pre-adaptation for exploiting Dipterocarpaceae.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Airborne environmental DNA metabarcoding for the monitoring of terrestrial insects - a proof of concept

Biodiversity is in decline due to human land use, exploitation, and climate change. To be able to counteract this alarming trend it is paramount to closely monitor biodiversity at global scales. Because this is practically impossible with traditional methods, the last decade has seen a strong push for solutions. In aquatic ecosystems the monitoring of species from environmental DNA (eDNA) has emerged as one of the most powerful tools at our disposal but in terrestrial ecosystems the power of eDNA for monitoring has so far been hampered by the local scale of the samples. In this study we report the first attempt to detect insects from airborne eDNA. We compare our results to two traditional insect monitoring projects (1) using light trapping for moth monitoring and (2) transect counts for the monitoring of butterflies and wild bees. While we failed to detect many of the same species monitored with the traditional methods, airborne eDNA metabarcoding revealed DNA from from six classes of Arthropods, and twelve order of Insects - including representatives from all of the four largest orders: Diptera (flies), Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Coleoptera (beetles) and Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants). We also recovered DNA from nine species of vertebrates, including frogs, birds and mammals as well as from 12 other phyla. We suggest that airborne eDNA has the potential to become a powerful tool for terrestrial biodiversity monitoring, with many impactful applications including the monitoring of pests, invasive or endangered species or disease vectors.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

The (non) accuracy of mitochondrial genomes for family level phylogenetics: the case of erebid moths (Lepidoptera; Erebidae)

The use of molecular data to study evolutionary history of different organisms, revolutionized the field of systematics. Now with the appearance of high throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies more and more genetic sequence data is available. One of the important sources of genetic data for phylogenetic analyses has been mitochondrial DNA. The limitations of mitochondrial DNA for the study of phylogenetic relationships have been thoroughly explored in the age of single locus phylogenies. Now with the appearance of genomic scale data, more and more mitochondrial genomes are available. Here we assemble 47 mitochondrial genomes using whole genome Illumina short reads of representatives of the family Erebidae (Lepidoptera), in order to evaluate the accuracy of mitochondrial genome application in resolving deep phylogenetic relationships. We find that mitogenomes are inadequate for resolving subfamily level relationships in Erebidae, but given good taxon sampling, we see its potential in resolving lower level phylogenetic relationships.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2021

The unresolved phylogenomic tree of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera): assessing the potential causes and consequences

The field of molecular phylogenetics is being revolutionised with next-generation sequencing technologies making it possible to sequence large numbers of genomes for non-model organisms ushering us into the era of phylogenomics. The current challenge is no longer how to get enough data, but rather how to analyse the data and how to assess the support for the inferred phylogeny. We focus on one of the largest animal groups on the planet - butterflies and moths (order Lepidoptera). We clearly demonstrate that there are unresolved issues in the inferred phylogenetic relationships of the major lineages, despite several recent phylogenomic studies of the group. We assess the potential causes and consequences of the conflicting phylogenetic hypotheses. With a dataset consisting of 331 protein-coding genes and the alignment length over 290 000 base pairs, including 200 taxa representing 81% of lepidopteran superfamilies, we compare phylogenetic hypotheses inferred from amino acid and nucleotide alignments. The resulting two phylogenies are discordant, especially with respect to the placement of the superfamily Gelechioidea, which is likely due to compositional bias of both the nucleotide and amino acid sequences. With a series of analyses, we dissect our dataset and demonstrate that there is sufficient phylogenetic signal to resolve much of the lepidopteran tree of life. Overall, the results from the nucleotide alignment are more robust to the various perturbations of the data that we carried out. However, the lack of support for much of the backbone within Ditrysia makes the current butterfly and moth tree of life still unresolved. We conclude that taxon sampling remains an issue even in phylogenomic analyses, and recommend that poorly sampled highly diverse groups, such as Gelechioidea in Lepidoptera, should receive extra attention in the future.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Museomics of a rare taxon: placing Whalleyanidae in the Lepidoptera Tree of Life

Museomics is a valuable tool that utilises the diverse biobanks that are natural history museums. The ability to sequence genomes from old specimens has expanded not only the variety of interesting taxa available to study but also the scope of questions that can be investigated in order to further knowledge about biodiversity. Here we present whole genome sequencing results from the enigmatic genus Whalleyana, as well as the families Callidulidae and Hyblaeidae. Library preparation was carried out on four museum specimens and one existing DNA extract and sequenced with Illumina short reads. De novo assembly resulted in highly fragmented genomes with the N50 ranging from 317 - 2,078 bp. Mining of a manually curated gene set of 332 genes from these draft genomes had an overall gene recovery rate of 64 - 90%. Phylogenetic analysis places Whalleyana as sister to Callidulidae, and Hyblaea as sister to Pyraloidea. Since the former sister-group relationship turns out to be also supported by ten morphological synapomorphies, we propose to formally assign the Whalleyanidae to the superfamily Calliduloidea. These results highlight the usefulness of not only museum specimens, but also existing DNA extracts, for whole genome sequencing and gene mining for phylogenomic studies.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2020

The latitudinal diversity gradient in brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae): conserved ancestral tropical niche but different continental histories.

The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is arguably one of the most striking patterns in nature. The global increase in species richness toward the tropics across continents and taxonomic groups stimulated the formulation of many hypotheses to explain the underlying mechanisms of this pattern. We evaluated several of these hypotheses to explain spatial diversity patterns in the butterfly family, Nymphalidae, by assessing the contributions of speciation, extinction, and dispersal to the LDG, and also the extent to which these processes differ among regions at the same latitude. We generated a new, time-calibrated phylogeny of Nymphalidae based on 10 gene fragments and containing ca. 2,800 species ([~]45% of extant diversity). Neither speciation nor extinction rate variations consistently explain the LDG among regions because temporal diversification dynamics differ greatly across longitude. For example, we found that Neotropical nymphalid diversity results from low extinction rates, not high speciation rates, and that biotic interchanges with other regions were rare. Southeast Asia was also characterized by a low speciation rate but, unlike the Neotropics, was the main source of dispersal events through time. Our results suggest that global climate change throughout the Cenozoic, particularly during the Eocene-Oligocene transition, combined with the conserved ancestral tropical niches, played a major role in generating the modern LDG of butterflies.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

A complete time-calibrated multi-gene phylogeny of the European butterflies

With the aim of supporting ecological analyses in butterflies, the third most species-rich superfamily of Lepidoptera, this paper presents the first time-calibrated phylogeny of all 496 extant butterfly species in Europe, including 18 very localized endemics for which no public DNA sequences had been available previously. It is based on a concatenated alignment of the mitochondrial gene COI and up to 11 nuclear gene fragments, using Bayesian inference of phylogeny. To avoid analytical biases that could result from our region-focus sampling, our European tree was grafted upon a global genuslevel backbone butterfly phylogeny for analyses. In addition to a consensus tree, we provide the posterior distribution of trees and the fully-concatenated alignment for future analyses.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Mesoamerica is a cradle and the Brazilian Atlantic Forest is a museum of Neotropical butterfly diversity (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Brassolini)

Regional species diversity is ultimately explained by speciation, extinction, and dispersal. Here we estimate dispersal and speciation rates of Neotropical butterflies to propose an explanation for their distribution and diversity of extant species. We focus on the tribe Brassolini (owl butterflies and allies): a Neotropical group that comprises 17 genera and 108 species, most of them endemic to rainforest biomes. We infer a robust species tree using the multispecies coalescent framework and a dataset including molecular and morphological characters. This formed the basis for three changes in Brassolini classification: 1) Naropina, SYN. NOV. is subsumed within Brassolina; 2) Aponarope, SYN. NOV. is subsumed within Narope; 3) Selenophanes orgetorix, COMB. NOV. is reassigned from Catoblepia to Selenophanes. By applying biogeographical stochastic mapping, we found contrasting species diversification and dispersal dynamics across rainforest biomes, which might be partly explained by the geological and environmental history of each bioregion. Our results reveal a mosaic of biome-specific evolutionary histories within the Neotropics, where butterfly species have diversified rapidly (cradles: Mesoamerica), have accumulated gradually (museums: Atlantic Forest), or have alternately diversified and accumulated (Amazonia). Our study contributes evidence from a major butterfly lineage that the Neotropics are a museum and cradle of species diversity.

evolutionary biology↗