Systematics of Neotropical Butterflies (12/23 - Present)

Butterflies of the Neotropics (Central America, the Caribbean, and South America) are highly diverse. As indicators for other insect groups, butterflies are often the subject of monitoring programs, often using bait traps, and reliable means to identify species and a firm taxonomy are clearly important. The genus Memphis is widespread in neotropical forest canopies, with over 60 species. The camouflaged underside wing patterns of Memphis are often variable, and the species are sexually dimorphic, making it difficult to associate males and females. Here, I aim to address the classification and identification of one of the most abundant and taxonomically cryptic groups: Memphis acidalia and relatives.
Memphis acidalia (pictured below) is distributed throughout South America east of the Andes, with related possible species in the western Amazon and western Andes. Memphis acidalia exhibits a high intraspecific variability in wing pattern, complicating identification of species limits, and because some names for species are based on females and some on males, it is not clear what names apply to species. I aim to investigate the following questions: 1) Which males and females belong to the same species, and how can they be identified? 2) How many species are there within the M. acidalia complex? 3) What are the correct taxonomic names to apply to species?

I have been studying the group over the past two years as a researcher within both the Emerging Scholars Program and the University Scholars Program, in collaboration with Keith Willmott of the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. I completed DNA extraction, PCR, and gel quantification for various samples of Memphis. A preliminary neighbor-joining tree with these sequences highlights four distinct clades within the species complex. My findings suggest that the complex comprises multiple species, each with unique geographical and elevational ranges, supporting taxonomic recognition.

We plan to publish a comprehensive review of the complex, which will resolve the taxonomy and provide identification guides for monitoring neotropical butterflies, which are used as indicators of other species.