Molecular and Morphological Differentiation of Oleria makrena (Hewitson) and Oleria fumata (Haensch) (Lepidoptera: Ithomiinae)

Oleria (Olerinii tribe) is a genus of great ecological and evolutionary importance among the Ithomiinae (Nymphalidae). Species identification is very complex since most of them are involved in mimicry rings and share large morphological similarities. Ithomiinae specimens collected in the Antioquia Southwest - Colombia, showed confuse wing color pattern generating difficulties to define the presence of one or two species at the sampled region. Collected specimens were studied in detail using male and female genitalia and nucleotide sequences besides traditional character of wing color and venation. Oleria makrena (Hewitson) and Oleria fumata (Haensch) were registered and the relative utility of each character for species identification was defined. For males, wing color pattern was enough to differentiate both species, and the separation of specimens by this character was congruent with the separation obtained by using genitalia and DNA sequences. However, for females, wing patterns were not enough for the adequate separation or species and genitalia-based characters were necessary. DNA sequences of a short fragment of the mitochondrial gene ND4 allowed for the rapid and precise differentiation of both species, coinciding with the separation using genitalia for both males and females. The analysis of 579 base pairs (bp) indicated 46 nucleotide differences between both species.