Molecular systematics and evolution of the recently discovered “Parnassian” butterfly (Parnassius davydovi Churkin, 2006) and its allied species (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)

The nucleotide sequence of 807 bp of the mtDNA-ND5 locus of Parnassius davydovi (Churkin, S. 2006. A new species of Parnassius Latreille, 1804, from Kyrgyzstan (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae). Helios (Moskow) 7,142-158), was determined. This butterfly was unexpectedly discovered recently in Kyrgyzstan, and we wished to shed light on its molecular phylogenetic relationship to other Parnassian butterflies, as well as to the related taxa in the subfamily Parnassiinae of the family Papilionidae. Using the ML method with the GTR+I+Γ model, we inferred the phylogenetic tree for 60 Parnassius individuals together with materials of the related genera in the subfamily Parnassiinae (Hypermnestra, Archon, Luehdorfia, Bhutanitis, Allancastria, Zerynthia and Sericinus) with Papilio machaon as an out-group. It was found that P. davydovi is a distinct species most closely related to P. loxias in clade VI among the eight clades, or species groups of Parnassius. The morphological diversity in the form of sphragis, the attachment to the female abdomen formed by the male during copulation, is characteristic to this clade, and we inferred the order of emergence of the different sphragis forms during evolution. Attempts to estimate the divergence times between related taxa were also made. It was inferred that the relatively rapid radiation of Parnassian butterflies started at about 24 MYA BP, while P. davydovi diverged from P. loxias at about 10 MYA BP.