Taxonomy And Phylogeny Of Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea) From China

Taxonomy of four subfamilies, 82 genera and 360 species of Hesperiidae presented in China is studied. External and genital characters of 189 species from 72 genera are described based on examinations of pinned specimens, with 259 figures of male and female genitalia illustrated, of which, one male and 53 female genitalia are described for the first time. For genera and species with material unavailable, their citation and distribution are recorded according to related literatures.One genus and two species are discovered as new records to China, and three species are synonymized, as listed below:New recorded genus to China: Carcharodus Hübner, 1819.New recorded species to China: Carcharodus flocciferus (Zeller, 1847); Caltoris kumara (Moore, 1878).New synonyms: Lobocla contractus (Leech, 1894) syn. nov. [=Lobocla bifasciata (Bremer & Grey, 1853)]; Lobocla quadripunctata Fan & Wang, 2004 syn. nov. [=Lobocla bifasciata (Bremer & Grey, 1853)]; Baoris longistigmata Huang, 1999 syn. nov. [=Baoris farri (Moore, 1878)].Fifty six morphological characters and three biological characters are employed to analysis the phylogenetic relationship between 72 genera of Hesperiidae, using PAUP 4.0 beta 10 and Treeview 1.6.6. Monophyly of the family is strongly supported, as are the four subfamilies, with the following relationships: (Coeliadinae + (Pyrginae + (Heteropterinae + Hesperiinae))).Six tribes of Pyrginae are recognized, of which, Erynnin and Celaenorrhinini are confirmed. Lobocla, as the only genus of Eudaminae occurring outside the Neotropical and Nearctic regions, appears as a tribe of Pyrginae in this study, but its sister relationship with (Caprona Group + (Celaenorrhinini + Tagiadini))) is poorly supported.Nine hesperiine tribes and genus groups are partitioned with the relationship as follows: ((Astictopterus Group + Aeromachini) + (Iambrix Group + (Erionota Group + (Ancistroides Group + (Isoteinonini + (Baorini + (Taractrocerini + Hesperiini))))))). Erionota Group, Ancistroides Group, Baorini and Taractrocerini are proved to be monophyly. Sister relationships between Astictopterus Group and Aeromachini, Isoteinonini and (Baorini + (Taractrocerini + Hesperiini)), Erionota Group and (Ancistroides Group + (Isoteinonini + Baorini + (Taractrocerini + Hesperiini)))) receive week support, others have moderate support. Circumscriptions of Isoteinonini and its relationship with related genera require further elucidation.Ten genera are not represented in the phylogenetic analysis since materials are not available, and their positions are arranged based on analyses of the characters provided in literature.According to the results of taxonomic and phylogenetic study, keys to hesperid subfamilies, tribes, genera and species are provided. An updated checklist of Hesperiidae from China is given.