Systematics, diversity & speciation of Lepidoptera

云杉芽蛾是北美针叶林的主要食叶害虫，尽管几十年来一直在努力管理其种群数量，但其定期爆发影响了森林结构，并造成了巨大的经济损失。旧大陆燕尾蝶类也受到了很多关注，尽管主要是因为它们很大，对博物学家有视觉吸引力。这两类鳞翅目昆虫都有一个共同的事实，即尽管经过多年的研究，我们仍然不知道它们包含多少种，以及如何区分它们。这可能是因为这些物种在某些地区正在分化，但在其他地区正在合并。我们想知道为什么会发生这种情况，因为这将使我们深入了解物种形成是如何发生的。换句话说，一个物种如何以及为什么会变成两个物种？新的物种有时会从以前不同的物种之间的杂交中形成吗？

Spruce budworm moths are major defoliators of conifer forests in North America, influencing forest structure by their regular outbreaks and causing much economic damage despite many decades of effort to manage their population numbers. Butterflies of the Old World Swallowtail species group have received much attention as well, although mainly because they are large and visually attractive to naturalists. Both groups of Lepidoptera share the fact that we still don't know how many species they contain and how to tell them apart, in spite of years of study. This may be because these species are in the process of diverging in some areas but merging in others. We would like to know why this might be happening, since this would give us insight into how speciation occurs. In other words how and why can one species can turn into two species? And can new species sometimes form from hybridization between previously distinct species?