Phylogeny and global biogeography of puss moths and kittens (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae: Cerurinae)

With over 4,000 named species, the Prominent Moths (Notodontidae) are one of the most conspicuous families of large moths, found on every continent except Antarctica, and occurring in habitats ranging from Arctic tundra to deserts and tropical rainforests. Notodontid larvae are among the most spectacular of all insects, displaying crypsis, aposematism, and striking threat postures. The Cosmopolitan subfamily Cerurinae (“Puss Moths” and “Kittens”) includes ~100 species with some of the most well-known larvae and is characterized in part by larval structures such as the modified whip-like prolegs and enlarged thoracic segments often endowed with a fake “face” used to startle predators. Cerurines are better studied taxonomically than most of the remaining 15 notodontid subfamilies and as such enable decisive phylogenetic exploration of biogeographic hypotheses. We infer the first dated phylogeny of Cerurinae using Anchored Hybrid Enrichment phylogenomics, including over 600 loci from 50 species, with all 14 genera represented. The Cerurinae are recovered as monophyletic and not nested within Notodontinae, as has been suggested. Our event-based likelihood ancestral area estimation, using seven bioregions, recovers a complex story of global colonization, with an inferred African origin and multiple independent invasions of the Americas that include a temperate radiation in North America and another in Central and South America. Ancestral state reconstruction using stochastic character mapping suggests that Cerurinae have retained their ancestral host association with Salicaceae despite adapting to dramatically different habitats around the world. Diversification rates of Cerurinae are shown to be highest in temperate regions.