The speciation of Noctua atlantica (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) occurred in the Azores as supported by a molecular clock based on mitochondrial COI sequences

The complete sequence of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of Noctua atlantica (Warren, 1905) has been determined and deposited in the NCBI GenBank under the Accession number AY600452. Complete and partial COI sequences of other Lepidoptera have been collected and used to reconstruct a phylogeny with both the Neighbor-Joining and the Maximum Likelihood methods. A molecular clock calibrated for our models indicate a divergence time between Noctua atlantica and Noctua pronuba of 4.7-5.9 Million years, consistent with the geological age of the Azores and suggesting that the speciation process of N. atlantica occurred in this archipelago.