Higher phylogeny of Orange Tips (Anthocharis) with a focus on population structure in A. damone (Lepidoptera, Pieridae)

We investigated the higher phylogeny of Anthocharis and related genera using DNA barcodes representing all recognized species in conjunction with eleven genes (COI, Cytb, EF1a, wg, GAPDH, IDH, MDH, CAD, RPS5, ND1a, 28SrDNA) to support the backbone of the phylogeny. Our reconstruction did not recover the three subgenera (Anthocharis, Tetracharis and Paramidea) as a monophyletic group, instead Zegris + Euchloe appeared as sister to subgenus Anthocharis. Accordingly, we propose Tetracharis and Paramidea as good genera (stat. nov.). We sampled nearly all known populations of the Eastern Orange Tip, Anthocharis damone, and our analyses highlighted ten mostly well-supported mitochondrial lineages that only partially corresponded to the currently accepted systematic arrangement for this species. This genetic structure was subsequently confirmed by analysis of morphological characteristics. In light of these findings, we describe four new subspecies: A. damone calabra Nazari, Scalercio and Back ssp. nov. from Calabria, Italy, A. damone arachovae Back and Nazari ssp. nov. from southern Greece, A. damone morea Back and Nazari ssp. nov. from Peloponnese in Greece, and A. damone shahrdarii Naderi and Back ssp. nov. from the Alborz mountains in Northern Iran.