Muscles of the Male Genitalia in the Butterfly Subfamily Aphnaeinae (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)

Abstract

Abstract The morphology of the skeleton and musculature of the male genitalia of the subfamily Aphnaeinae (Lycaenidae), distributed mainly in the Afrotropical Region, were studied and compared with those in other ancient taxa of the family Lycaenidae. The position of Aphnaeinae in the system of the family Lycaenidae is discussed based on the analysis of new comparative morphological data and with reference to the literature data. The male genital musculature was studied for the first time in Phasis thero (Linnaeus, 1764), Chrysoritis pyroeis (Trimen, 1864), and Aloeides pierus (Cramer, [1779]), representing distantly related genera of Aphnaeinae. The composition and topography of their muscles, unlike those of the previously studied Middle Asian species Cigaritis epargiros (Eversmann, 1854), were found to correspond to the ground plan of the nymphaloid group of families (Nymphalidae + Lycaenidae) and to show archaic features as compared with those in such early branches of Lycaenidae as the subfamilies Curetinae and Riodininae. Symplesiomorphic similarity of the musculature features of Aphnaeinae and Lipteninae (Liptenini) was established. The subfamilies Aphnaeinae, Poritiinae s. str., Lipteninae, and Miletinae share such a common feature as the lower wall of the saccus elongated into a narrow caudal plate (“saccus directed caudal”). However, it remains unknown whether this character is a synapomorphy of these subfamilies or a result of parallel evolution, i.e., a homoplasy.