Rodzaj Euchromia Hübner, [1819] – neotropikalny kolonizator Starego Świata (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

The genus Euchromia comprises relatively big, vividly and aposematically coloured day-active moths. In total, there are 105 described taxa, but the initial analyses based on the type specimens showed, that the number of valid taxa is around 40, and the group demands a modern revision. The genus occurs from Africa to Fiji, and its highest diversity is recorded from the southwest Pacific Ocean, especially New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, with many species endemic to certain islands and archipelagos. The genus Euchromia undoubtedly belongs to the Neotropical evolutionary lineage of Arctiinae, and is the only member of the subtribe Euchromiina occurring outside Neotropics. Based on the dating of divergence times of Arctiinae, the genus Euchromia evolved in the late Oligocene, and thus, its dispersal to the “Old World” must have been an episode of transoceanic Long Distance Dispersal (LDD). However, the role of LDD and vicarianism in shaping the biodiversity of tropical insects is still insufficiently studied, especially for larger groups of animals on a broader geographical scale – this applies especially to the SW Pacific Ocean and has been repeatedly indicated in the literature. The currently implemented project meets these needs, as the first complex elaboration of the dispersal in a widely distributed group of tropical insects originating from the Neotropics. It will be based on a dated phylogeny built with molecular and morphological data, that will be compared with the dating of the major geological events, that might have influenced the genus diversification. In the project, the transpacific direction of the genus’ ancestor LDD is proposed, based on the other examples from literature, and the high diversity of Euchromia species in Australasia. The route of further dispersal towards Africa requires more detailed study, as the genus may have entered it either via Gomphotherium landbridge or been carried by winds blowing over the Indian Ocean. Finally, the project implements the study of the role of New Guinea as a “biodiversity generator”, and the neighbouring Wallacea as a barrier in its propagation, on the example of Euchromia.