Molecular phylogenetic relationship of the subfamily Nymphalinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Myanmar, inferred from mitochondrial gene sequences

• Main Authors: Nan Zarchi Win, Eun Young Choi, Jinyoung Park, Jong Kyun Park
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2017-03-01
• Series: Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity
• Subjects: butterfly; molecular phylogeny; Myanmar; Nymphalinae
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2287884X17300031

Phylogenetic relationships for 19 species of the subfamily Nymphalinae were inferred using 607 bp of cytochrome oxidase subunit I. The average base composition of cytochrome oxidase subunit I sequences was 37.9% T, 15.7% C, 31.5% A, and 14.9% G, showing a strong AT bias (69.4%). The phylogenetic trees were constructed using the neighbor-joining, maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony methods, and showed almost identical topologies. The results indicated that the tribes Junoniini and Nymphalini are monophyletic groups, but Kallimini is not a monophyletic group. The results of the analysis are approximately consistent with the traditional classification results. This study establishes the cytochrome oxidase subunit I sequence of butterflies from Myanmar for further evolutionary researches.