A Contribution Towards Resolving the Systematics of the High-Altitude Tropical Andean Satyrine Genus Altopedaliodes Forster, 1964 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalinae: Satyrinae)

The first phylogenetic hypotheses for the high Andean satyrine butterfly genus Altopedaliodes is proposed based on sequence data from mitochondrial (COI and COII) and nuclear (EF-1α) genes. Four species previously included in the genus were found not to be closely related to the clade containing the type species for Altopedaliodes, and these species are therefore removed and placed in the appropriate genus: Pedaliodes cocytia (C. Felder and R. Felder, 1867) n. comb., Pedaliodes nebris Thieme 1905 rev. comb., Neopedaliodes tamaensis (Pyrcz and Viloria 2007) n. comb., and Altopedaliodes similis Henao, Páez and Rodríguez-M., 2017; the last name is here synonymized with Pedaliodes nebris (Thieme 1905) n. syn. A taxonomic revision of the twelve species in Altopedaliodes as newly circumscribed is presented and all the currently recognized taxa are revised. We describe two new species, A. llanganati Padrón, Pyrcz and Willmott n. sp. (Ecuador, Napo) and A. pilimbala Pyrcz and Boyer n. sp. (Colombia, Cauca), and three new subspecies, A. reissi papallacta Padrón, Pyrcz and Willmott n. ssp. (Ecuador, Napo), A. reissi dominica Pyrcz and Padrón n. ssp. (Colombia, Valle del Cauca) and A. halli cagnoni Boyer, Pyrcz and Padrón n. ssp. (Ecuador, Morona-Santiago). A new status is proposed for A. nucea Pyrcz and Viloria 1999, n. stat., we combine Altopedaliodes scydmaena (Hayward, 1968) n. comb. and Altopedaliodes belmira (Pyrcz and Rodríguez, 2004), n. comb., n. stat. into the genus and treat the latter taxon as a species, and we newly treat Altopedaliodes scydmaena kruegeri Pyrcz 1999 n. stat. as a subspecies.