Under Construction

Ithomia Hübner 1816

Dynothea Reakirt 1866 currently viewed as a subjective junior synonym

Chris Jiggins and Andrew V. Z. Brower
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
taxon links [up-->]Ithomia praeithomia [up-->]Ithomia ellara [up-->]Ithomia agnosia [up-->]Ithomia diasia [up-->]Ithomia leila [up-->]Ithomia drymo [up-->]Ithomia avella [up-->]Ithomia xenos [up-->]Ithomia heraldica [up-->]Ithomia amarilla [up-->]Ithomia eleonora [up-->]Ithomia celemia [up-->]Ithomia hyala [up-->]Ithomia cleora [up-->]Ithomia lagusa [up-->]Ithomia terra [up-->]Ithomia pseudoagalla [up-->]Ithomia hymettia [up-->]Ithomia arduinna [up-->]Ithomia jucunda [up-->]Ithomia lichyi [up-->]Ithomia salapia [up-->]Ithomia iphianassa [up-->]Ithomia patilla Phylogenetic position of group is uncertain[down<--]Ithomiini Interpreting the tree
close box

This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

example of a tree diagram

You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.

close box
Phylogenetic relationships determined from analysis of DNA sequence data from seven gene regions (Mallarino, et al., 2005).
Containing group: Ithomiini

Introduction

Butterflies in this genus are often very abundant and have a variety of wing colour patterns including transparent, yellow and 'tiger' (orange and black) patterns. They are commonly involved in mimicry with species in other genera of the Ithomiini such as Napeogenes, Hypothyris, Scada, Oleria and others. Many species show considerable geographic variation in colour pattern, with as many as nine sub-species described for some species.

The genus is distributed throughout tropical America, from Mexico through Central America to Brazil and Bolivia. Their centre of diversity is in the northern Andes and Central America. Several species are restricted to montane habitats

As is the case for most Ithomiini, host plants are primarily in the family Solanaceae. The most important genera known for central american species are Solanum, Acnistus, Lycianthes, Witheringia and Capsicum (DeVries, 1987). Host plant relationships in other parts of the range remain poorly studied.

Characteristics

Male butterflies in this genus and its sister genus Pagyris are easily recognised by a distinctive raised bump near the costal margin of the hindwing underside in a position that corresponds with the location of the androconial patch. This is an excellent character easily recognised in the field. Females can generally be readily matched with males found in the same location, as there is little sexual dimorphism in the genus.

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

The phylogenetic relationships presented here are based on an analysis of DNA sequence data from seven different gene regions (Mallarino et al., 2005). There was some conflict between the different gene regions sequenced, with different genes giving a different signal for some species such as I. hyala. However the combined evidence tree presented here is in agreement with the majority of gene regions in areas of conflict. There remain some areas in which relationships are poorly supported, notably among the species I. agnosia, I. pseudoagalla, I. lichyi and I. drymo, that are represented here as an unresolved polytomy.

Prior to this study there was no cladistic analysis of this genus, and little is known of variation in morphological characters such as genitalia that might be used to complement the molecular data.

Several revisions to previously proposed taxonomy were made on the basis of the DNA data. For example the western Ecuador population I. pseudoagalla was previously considered a race of I. agnosia, but is very distinct genetically and we consider it a good species.

Other Names for Ithomia Hübner 1816

References

DeVries, P. (1986) The Butterflies of Costa Rica Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ.

Lamas G ed. 2004. Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part 4A Hesperioidea - Papiionoidea. Gainesville: Scientific Publishers/Association of Tropical Lepidoptera.

Mallarino, R., E. Bermingham, K. R. Willmott, A. Whinnett, and C. D. Jiggins. 2004. Molecular systematics of the butterfly genus Ithomia (Lepidoptera: Ithomiinae): a composite phylogenetic hypothesis based on seven genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34:625-644.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Ithomia eleonora
Location Peru: Manu, Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By Kim Garwood
Behavior gathering pyrrolizidine alkaloids from composite flowers
Sex Male
Life Cycle Stage adult
View ventral
Source Eleonora Clearwing (Ithomia eleonoras)
Source Collection Neotropical Butterflies
Copyright © 2004 Kim Garwood
Scientific Name Ithomia diasia
Location Fortuna, Chiriqui, Panama
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By C Jiggins
Sex Male
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2005 Chris Jiggins
Scientific Name Ithomia iphianassa
Location COLOMBIA: Cundinamarca, La Vega
Acknowledgements used by permission, granted to AVZB 5/18/11
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By Kim Garwood
Sex Male
Life Cycle Stage adult
View ventral
Source Ithomia iphianassa
Source Collection Flickr
Copyright © 2010 Mike Chapman
About This Page

Chris Jiggins
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK


Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Chris Jiggins at and Andrew V. Z. Brower at

Page: Tree of Life Ithomia Hübner 1816. Dynothea Reakirt 1866 currently viewed as a subjective junior synonym. Authored by Chris Jiggins and Andrew V. Z. Brower. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Jiggins, Chris and Andrew V. Z. Brower. 2011. Ithomia Hübner 1816. Dynothea Reakirt 1866 currently viewed as a subjective junior synonym. Version 22 May 2011 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Ithomia/27607/2011.05.22 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Ithomia

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top