Phylogenetic studies of ribosomal RNA variation in higher moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia).

The selection of exemplars has been shown both theoretically and empirically to affect tree topology, but the importance of the number and nature of taxa used to represent higher taxonomic lineages in molecular studies is rarely stressed. In our rRNA study of higher moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia), the selection of different exemplars and outgroups caused major tree rearrangements. We also examined the effectiveness with which conserved rRNA regions track the diversification of Lepidoptera. Homoplasy is as prevalent at the few variable sites of conserved regions (18E, 18J, 28F) as at the many variable sites of a more rapidly evolving region (28B). Finally, 28B sequence variation differs qualitatively among lepidopteran superfamilies of presumed comparable age, the Papilionoidea (true butterflies) and Noctuoidea (cutworm moths and relatives).