Cecropterus (Thorybes) viridissimus Grishin, 2023

Additional specimens of Cecropterus (Thorybes) viridissimus Grishin, 2023 confirm it as a species-level taxon

Cecropterus (Thorybes) viridissimus Grishin, 2023 (type locality in Ecuador) is an unusual species that is very similar in facies to Cecropterus (Thorybes) virescens (Mabille, 1877) (type locality given as “Cayenne” [ French Guiana?]) and closely related to it in the protein-coding genes from autosomes ( Fig. 53a View Fig ), but is sister to both C. virescens and Cecropterus (Thorybes) egregius (A. Butler, 1870) (type locality unknown) in the Z chromosome and mitochondrial genome trees ( Fig. 53b, c View Fig ). Known only from its holotype, C. viridissimus might have been a hybrid or had contaminated DNA, thus explaining the phylogenetic incongruence. During further genomic sequencing, we stumbled upon two additional specimens of C. viridissimus ( Figs. 53 View Fig , 56 View Fig ), both from eastern Ecuador but from different localities distant from the type locality in the Andes of southern Ecuador. One of them is the first confirmed female of C. viridissimus ( Fig. 56b View Fig ). These specimens closely cluster with the holotype and display the same incongruence of the genomic trees, thus confirming C. viridissimus as a species ( Fig. 53 View Fig ).