Phylogeny of "Oxycanus" lineages of hepialid moths from New Zealand inferred from sequence variation in the mtDNA COI and II gene regions

The phylogeny of the New Zealand hepialid moths was estimated from a 527-bp nucleotide sequence from the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase subunit I and II gene regions. New haplotypes were identified for Wiseana cervinata , W. copularis, and W. signata. Phylogenetic reconstructions using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods indicated that the four hepialid l ineages Aenetus, Aoraia, "Oxycanus" Cladoxycanus, and "Oxycanus" s. str. hy pothesized by Dugdale (1994) based on a morphological taxonomic revision we re monophyletic within New Zealand. Addition of exemplars from the Australi an genera Fraus, Jeana, Oxycanus, and Trictena to the data set tentatively support the monophyly of the New Zealand "Oxycanus" lineages. Estimated tim es of divergence for the genus Wiseana taxa fitted well with known geologic al events and suggest that the genus may have diverged 1-1.5 mya. (C) 1999 Academic Press.