The nymphalid groundplan (NGP) has proven to be extraordinarily useful in the study of butterfly color patterns because it allows for the identification of homologous elements across species. It has long been thought that the NGP is broadly applicable to all Lepidoptera, implying that the characters which make-up butterfly color patterns are homologous to those found in the moths. However, this conjecture remains mostly untested. We analyzed the wing patterns of the hyper-diverse arctiid tiger moths, which are represented worldwide by approximately 11,000 species, and found that the color patterns of these animals can be parsed into a limited toolkit of homologous characters. Some of the pattern elements identified, such as the basal and central symmetry system, are present on the NGP, but their morphology is often quite different from what is seen in the butterflies. The border ocelli of the NGP appear to be absent altogether in the Arctiidae, and conversely, two distal pattern element we term the “van Bemmelen” and “terminal” bands are present in the color patterns of many arctiids, but are not represented on the NGP. In light of the observed differences, we derive a new theoretical groundplan based on the original NGP that we refer to as the “arctiid archetype.” This model provides a comprehensive framework for understanding how the wing patterns of these animals develop, and yields novel insight into their evolutionary history.

中文翻译：

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Arctiid 原型：一个新的鳞翅目地面计划

蛱蝶平面图 (NGP) 已被证明在蝴蝶颜色图案的研究中非常有用，因为它允许识别跨物种的同源元素。长期以来，人们一直认为 NGP 广泛适用于所有鳞翅目，这意味着构成蝴蝶颜色图案的特征与在飞蛾中发现的特征是同源的。然而，这个猜想仍然大部分未经检验。我们分析了世界范围内大约有 11,000 种代表的高度多样化的北极虎蛾的翅膀图案，发现这些动物的颜色图案可以解析为有限的同源字符工具包。一些已识别的模式元素，例如基础和中心对称系统，存在于 NGP 上，但它们的形态往往与蝴蝶的形态大不相同。NGP 的边界单眼在 Arctiidae 中似乎完全不存在，相反，我们称为“van Bemmelen”和“终端”带的两个远端图案元素存在于许多 Arctiids 的颜色图案中，但在NGP。鉴于观察到的差异，我们基于原始 NGP 推导出了一个新的理论平面图，我们将其称为“arctiid 原型”。该模型为理解这些动物的翅膀模式如何发展提供了一个综合框架，并对它们的进化历史产生了新的见解。我们称为“van Bemmelen”和“终端”带的两个远端图案元素出现在许多北极星的颜色图案中，但在 NGP 上没有出现。鉴于观察到的差异，我们基于原始 NGP 推导出了一个新的理论基本规划，我们将其称为“arctiid 原型”。该模型为理解这些动物的翅膀模式如何发展提供了一个综合框架，并对它们的进化历史产生了新的见解。我们称为“van Bemmelen”和“终端”带的两个远端图案元素出现在许多北极星的颜色图案中，但在 NGP 上没有出现。鉴于观察到的差异，我们基于原始 NGP 推导出了一个新的理论平面图，我们将其称为“arctiid 原型”。该模型为理解这些动物的翅膀模式如何发展提供了一个综合框架，并对它们的进化历史产生了新的见解。