Virachola F. Moore, 1881

Zhang, Jing, Cong, Qian, Shen, Jinhui, Song, Leina & Grishin, Nick V., 2025, Advancing butterfly systematics through genomic analysis, The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey 12 (5), pp. 1-201 : 29-31

Virachola F. Moore, 1881 is a valid genus distinct from Deudorix Hewitson, 1863

Genomic phylogeny reveals that Deudorix Hewitson, 1863 (type species Dipsas epijarbas F. Moore, 1858 ) is not monophyletic and species placed in this genus belong to four different clades ( Fig. 24 blue, red, green, and magenta). The first is the clade with the type species of Deudorix , thus corresponding to this genus ( Fig. 24 blue). This clade is sister to several genera that include Artipe Boisduval, 1870 ( Papilio amyntor Herbst, 1804 , a junior homonym, the valid name of this species is Papilio eryx Linnaeus, 1771 ) and Capys Hewitson, 1865 (type species Papilio alpheus Cramer, 1777 ). The second clade, which is not monophyletic with Deudorix , corresponds to the genus Virachola F. Moore, 1881 (type species Deudorix perse Hewitson, 1863 ) ( Fig. 24 green), which at times is considered a valid genus ( Rawlins et al. 2020). Thus, our phylogeny offers decisive evidence for treating Virachola F. Moore, 1881 , stat. rest. as a genus distinct from Deudorix . However, Virachola is closely related to Artipe and could potentially be treated as its subgenus—a possibility we leave for future investigation. Furthermore, only Asian species are included in Virachola . African species form a clade that is sister to Capys , and we assign them to this genus within a newly described subgenus, detailed below. This new subgenus of Capys corresponds to the third clade of species currently in Deudorix ( Fig. 24 magenta). The fourth clade is sister to all members of this group of several genera ( Fig. 24 red) and it corresponds to a new genus that is described next.

http://zoobank.org/ 5E009C8E-3D24-44C7-BE28-D1772045AC3E

Type species. Rapala hypargyria Elwes, 1893 .

Definition. Genomic phylogeny reveals that several species placed in Deudorix Hewitson, 1863 (type species Dipsas epijarbas F. Moore, 1858 ) are not monophyletic with it and instead form a clade sister to several other genera, such as Bindahara F. Moore, 1881 (type species Hesperia phocides Fabricius, 1793 ) and Capys Hewitson, 1865 (type species Papilio alpheus Cramer, 1777 ), among others ( Fig. 24 red), and, therefore, this clade corresponds to a new genus. This new genus differs from its relatives by having unusual for the group ventral wing patterns, i.e., instead of the typical grayish brown ground color with slightly darker bands framed with white lines separated into spots, species of the new genus are pearly gray with round brown spots, or creamy white with brown margins but without discal or postdiscal brown bands. In DNA, a combination of the following characters is diagnostic in the nuclear genome: cce2070. 17.4:C477T, cce303125.12.1:A1164T, cce303125.12.1:T1191A, cce8301.4.10:A198G, cce8301.4.10:A243G; and COI barcode: A22T, A46T, A298T, A316T, A370T.

Etymology. In Spanish, deudo means relative, and ajeno means outsider, stranger, alien, or not-fitting, reflecting that this new genus does not fit within Deudorix : Ajeno + [Deudo] rix. According to the genomic phylogeny, this genus is an “outsider”—that is, sister to the rest of the clade. The name is a feminine noun in the nominative singular.

Species included. The type species (i.e., Rapala hypargyria Elwes, 1893 ), Deudorix apayao H. Schroeder & Treadaway, 1983 , Deudorix cleora L. Miller & J. Miller, 1986 , Deudorix novellus Yagishita, 2006 , Deudorix philippinensis H. Schröder, Treadaway & Hayashi, 1981 , and Deudorix toxopeusi Tennent , C. Müller & Rawlins, 2010.

Parent taxon. Tribe Deudorigini Doherty, 1886 .