The sterrhine loopers Timandra griseata and T. comae have been treated as distinct species since 1994. However, morphological differences between the taxa are minor and therefore their status has often been disputed. Here, we present a molecular phylogenetic study, which separates T. griseata and T. comae into different clades. Altogether, 43 Timandra specimens from eight European countries were studied. The phylogeny is based on a comparative sequence analysis of mitochondrial genes coding for the cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1). Nevertheless, a single individual of both species was assigned to the "wrong" clade. The symplesiomorphy of T. griseata and T. comae is considered to be a result of introgressive hybridization. Conditions that could lead to the hybridization of T. griseata and T. comae are discussed, as well as the likely distribution history of these taxa in Northern Europe. Results of the current analysis are in favour of retaining the species status of T. griseata and T. comae.
The extensive genus Erebia is divided into several groups of species according to phylogenetic relatedness. The species Erebia medusa was assigned to the medusa group and E. epipsodea to the alberganus group. A detailed study of the morphology of their copulatory organs indicated that these species are closely related and based on this E. epipsodea was transferred to the medusa group. Phylogenetic analyses of the gene sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) and mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1) confirm that E. medusa and E. epipsodea are closely related. A possible scenario is that the North American species, E. episodea, evolved after exclusion/isolation from E. medusa, whose current centre of distribution is in Europe., Martina Šemeláková, Peter Pristaš, Lubomír Panigaj., and Obsahuje seznam literatury