Sucova Evans, 1955

Zhang, Jing, Cong, Qian, Shen, Jinhui & Grishin, Nick V., 2022, Taxonomic changes suggested by the genomic analysis of Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera), Insecta Mundi 2022 (921), pp. 1-135 : 86

Sucova Evans, 1955 is a junior subjective synonym of Mnasitheus Godman, 1900

A monotypic genus Sucova Evans, 1955 (type and the only species Hesperia sucova Schaus, 1902 ) is sister to Mnasitheus submetallescens Hayward, 1940 making Mnasitheus polyphyletic. To restore monophyly, we can either transfer submetallescens to Sucova , or place Sucova in Mnasitheus . We prefer the latter solution, because Carneiro et al. (2015) correctly deduced phylogenetic affinity of then- Moeris submetallescens on the basis of morphological characters. Therefore, the placement of submetallescens in Mnasitheus is supported by the genus concept used in morphology-based studies and could be taken as a reference. Noting genetic similarity of these taxa ( Fig. 15 ), we conclude that Sucova Evans, 1955 is a junior subjective synonym of Mnasitheus Godman, 1900 .

Figures

Figure 15. Genomic tree of Moncina, part 3. See Fig. 1 legend for notations.