Assessing the existence of pantropical butterflies: A review of accurate taxonomy, biogeography and life history traits

Abstract

Abstract Various biological groups include genera that occur in tropical regions of continents that are separated by thousands of kilometres of ocean. However, in such pantropical groups, the taxonomic classification is often erroneous so that some of these cases may rather represent convergent evolution of distantly related species. Once monophyly of pantropical genera is firmly established, we can ask how these groups have become globally spread and what traits facilitate reaching a wide distribution. Some butterfly genera are considered pantropical and are a good system to ask such questions because we have a relatively large amount of information about their distribution, phylogeny and life history traits. Phylogeographic analyses have revealed that dispersal across land bridges throughout the Cenozoic period was typical for butterflies and that older clades are typically more widely distributed across the globe than more recently diverged clades. Results here also showed that certain life history traits, such as larval polyphagy and habitat generalism, correlate with a large range size in butterflies, although research biases towards temperate rather tropical regions exist. This review emphasises the first and foremost need for accurate taxonomy to prove phylogenetic monophyly in pantropical genera. Only when these evolutionary relationships are firmly established can we improve our understanding of the driving forces of their distributions and range sizes.