A target capture-based phylogeny of emerald moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Geometrinae) provides new insights into tribal-level classification

Emerald moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Geometrinae) are a cosmopolitan subfamily with over 275 genera and 2600 species. Most emerald moths are characterised by a green ground colour, with different lineages exhibiting different shades of green. Monophyly of Geometrinae has been confirmed by multiple phylogenetic analyses, yet the relative placement of many of the geometrine tribes is poorly supported. A document compiled by the geometrid research community lists 20 geometrine tribes that are still accepted by at least some current geometrid specialists; some of these are believed to be paraphyletic. Three additional tribes were proposed by molecular phylogenies published within the last decade, bringing the total to 23. In this study, we use anchored hybrid enrichment to obtain phylogenomic data from over 400 loci for 63 genera of emerald moths, with complete taxon sampling at the tribe level (representing all 23 proposed tribal hypotheses), and generate a maximum likelihood tree to assess the status of these tribes. We treat Dichordophorini Ferguson as a junior synonym (syn.n.) of Nemoriini Gumppenberg, and propose two new subtribes of Hemitheini Bruand: Oospilina subtr.n. and Xanthoxenina subtr.n.