Speculations about origins of the H. cresphontes group species. Left panel: Ancestor of H. cresphontes might have originated in eastern North America (red area), speciating from a more southern H. thoas. During Pleistocene, glaciation and cooler climate (blue arrows) forced H. cresphontes ancestor south through two possible paths: to Mexico and to Florida-Caribbean islands (red arrows). Resulting populations got isolated and differentiated into four species. Right panel: With retreat of glaciation (blue arrows), eastern H. cresphontes moved back to eastern North America; southwestern H. rumiko moved north through west and east Mexico; H. melonius got trapped and speciated further in Jamaica. H. homothoas probably evolved in northern South America arriving from the Caribbean islands through Trinidad and moved north to Costa Rica thus overlapping with H. rumiko in distribution.