Construction of the phylogenetic model for the genera of the tribe Arctiini (Lepidoptera,Arctiidae) with the SYNAP method

A new scheme of the phylogeny of the tribe Arctiini is proposed. The Western Mediterranean genus Atlantarctia is considered the most primitive one in the tribe; the rest of genera form two large clades Arctia-Pericallia and Gonerda-Platyprepia. The first clade is supposed to have been subjected to radiation in western Eurasia, and the second clade, in Asia and North America in the Palaeogene when the eastern part of Asia was isolated from western Eurasia. Subsequently, most probably in the Neogene-Pleistocene, representatives of both clades spread over the whole Eurasia and North America. The Arctiini fauna of the tundra zone, which includes the genera Acerbia and Pararctia, was formed in Asia and North America, whereas the subboreal fauna (both steppe and nemoral) originated in western Eurasia. The boreal genus Borearctia has most likely also originated in Asia.