The culmination of Kyhl Austin’s MSc thesis is published and available here.

Abstract

The Archipini fauna of the Caribbean is revised to include 33 species. Most previously described species occurring in the region are redescribed and figured, with 13 new species: Argyrotaenia browni sp. nov., A. cryptica sp. nov. (including A. c. cryptica ssp. nov. and A. c. praeteritana ssp. nov.), A. paradisei sp. nov., A. razowskiana sp. nov., Claduncaria rawlinsana sp. nov., Cla. praedictana sp. nov., Cla. taino sp. nov., Clepsis davisi sp. nov., Cle. deroni sp. nov., Cle. jamesstewarti sp. nov., Cle. peroniae sp. nov., Mictocommosis lesleyae sp. nov., and Mictopsichia nyhllinda sp. nov. Three new combinations are proposed: Claduncaria mesosignaria (Razowski, 1999), comb. nov. (including Argyrotaenia thamaluncus Razowski, 1999, syn. nov.), Claduncaria minisignaria (Razowski, 1999), comb. nov., and Claduncaria chalarostium (Razowski & Becker, 2000b), comb. nov., stat. nov. Argyrotaenia granpiedrae Razowski & Becker, 2010 is reduced to subspecies rank under Argyrotaenia ceramica Razowski, 1999, resulting in Argyrotaenia ceramica granpiedrae Razowski & Becker, 2010, stat. nov. Four new synonymies are proposed: Clepsis labisclera Razowski & Becker, 2010, syn. nov. as junior synonym of Claduncaria maestrana Razowski & Becker, 2010; Clepsis pinaria Razowski & Becker, 2010, syn. nov. as junior synonym of Clepsis peritana (Clemens, 1860); and Argyrotaenia neibana Razowski, 1999, syn. nov. and A. ochrochroa Razowski, 1999 syn. nov. as junior synonyms of Argyrotaenia amatana (Dyar, 1901). Males of Argyrotaenia felisana Razowski, 1999, A. nuezana Razowski, 1999, and Claduncaria minisignaria (Razowski, 1999), comb. nov. are described for the first time; females of Argyrotaenia jamaicana (Razowski & Becker, 2000a) and Claduncaria ochrochlaena (Razowski, 1999) are described for the first time. The concept of Claduncaria is expanded and its diagnosis is modified to more clearly define its generic boundaries. A unique external sexual coupling mechanism in Claduncaria is discussed. Keys to the genera and species of Caribbean Archipini, distribution maps, a regional checklist, and Neighbor-joining and Maximum Likelihood trees based on COI barcode data are provided. Phylogenetic relationships among Caribbean Archipini are briefly discussed.