Emergence phenology has been shown to advance considerably in the past decades in many lepidopterans. Noctuid moths (Noctuidae) constitute a species-rich family of lepidopterans with a large ...diversity of life history traits presumably driving climatic responsiveness. In our study we aim to assess the role of life-history and ecological traits in climatic responsiveness of noctuid moths, whilst controlling for phylogenetic dependence. We used a long-term dataset of European noctuid moths collected from a light-trap in northeastern Hungary. As the study site is located at the intersection of several biogeographical zones harbouring a large number of noctuid moth species, our dataset provides a unique possibility to investigate the moths' climatic sensitivity. To estimate the role of life-history traits and ecological factors in driving lepidopterans' response to climatic trends, we employed three proxies related to the species' ecology (habitat affinity, food plant specialization and food type) and two robust types of life-history traits (migration strategy and hibernation form). The degree of temporal shifts of various measures of emergence phenology was related to hibernation stage, food type and migration strategy. Large-scale phylogenetic relatedness exerted little constraint in all models fitted on each measure of phenology. Our results imply that noctuid moths overwintering as adults exhibited greater degrees of phenological shifts than species hibernating as larvae or pupae. It implies that moths hibernating as adults are forced to suspend activity in our climate and the prolongation of autumn activity might be the result of increased plasticity in flight periods.
Vegetative characters are widely used in the taxonomy of the amphibious genus Elatine L. However, these usually show great variation not just between species but between their aquatic and terrestrial ...forms. In the present study we examine the variation of seed and vegetative characters in nine Elatine species (E. brachysperma, E. californica, E. gussonei, E. hexandra, E. hungarica, E. hydropiper, E. macropoda, E. orthosperma and E. triandra) to reveal the extension of plasticity induced by the amphibious environment, and to test character reliability for species identification. Cultivated plant clones were kept under controlled conditions exposed to either aquatic or terrestrial environmental conditions. Six vegetative characters (length of stem, length of internodium, length of lamina, width of lamina, length of petioles, length of pedicel) and four seed characters (curvature, number of pits / lateral row, 1st and 2nd dimension) were measured on 50 fruiting stems of the aquatic and on 50 stems of the terrestrial form of the same clone. MDA, NPMANOVA Random Forest classification and cluster analysis were used to unravel the morphological differences between aquatic and terrestrial forms. The results of MDA cross-validated and Random Forest classification clearly indicated that only seed traits are stable within species (i.e., different forms of the same species keep similar morphology). Consequently, only seed morphology is valuable for taxonomic purposes since vegetative traits are highly influenced by environmental factors.
The genus
contains
25 species, all of which are small, herbaceous annuals distributed in ephemeral waters on both hemispheres. However, due to a high degree of morphological variability (as a ...consequence of their amphibious life-style), the taxonomy of this genus remains controversial. Thus, to fill this gap in knowledge, we present a detailed molecular phylogenetic study of this genus based on nuclear (rITS) and plastid (
,
,
) sequences using 27 samples from 13 species. On the basis of this phylogenetic analysis, we provide a solid phylogenetic background for the modern taxonomy of the European members of the genus. Traditionally accepted sections of this tree (i.e.,
and
) were found to be monophyletic; only
-found to be a basal member of the genus-has to be excluded from the latter lineage to achieve monophyly. A number of taxonomic conclusions can also be drawn:
, a high-ploid species, is most likely a stabilised hybrid between the main sections;
merits full species status based on both molecular and morphological evidence;
is a more widespread and genetically diverse species with two main lineages; and the presence of the Asian
in the European flora is questionable. The main lineages recovered in this analysis are also supported by a number of synapomorphic morphological characters as well as uniform chromosome counts. Based on all the evidence presented here, two new subsections within
are described: subsection
consisting of the temperate species of the section, and subsection
including the Mediterranean species of the section.
The protected Maculinea arion is an obligate myrmecophilous butterfly (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae). Fourth instar larvae and pupae develop in Myrmica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) ant nests. Host ant ...specificity varies geographically, and knowledge of the local host ant species is important to understand the biogeography and evolution of this species, and vital for its conservation. Here we report the first data on the host ant usage of M. arion in the Carpathian Basin, one prepupal caterpillar from a Myrmica specioides Bondroit, 1918 and one pupa from a M. scabrinodis Nylander, 1846 nest. Myrmica specioides is a new host ant species of M. arion. It is important to collect further data on the host ant usage of M. arion, despite the difficulties of data collection.
Abstract
Our main goal was to investigate the phylogeography of the butterfly Phengaris arion to reveal the evolutionary origin of its ‘spring’ and ‘summer’ forms. Molecular analyses based on highly ...variable microsatellites, together with Wolbachia screening, were carried out on 34 populations in Europe. We found three well-defined genetic lineages of different origins: the Apennine, the central and the eastern. The highly distinct Apennine lineage is limited by the Alps and evaluated as an Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU). Therefore, the taxon name ligurica, described from the Ligurian coast (Italy), should not be applied to denote the ‘summer form’ of the Pannonian region. The central lineage is limited by the Carpathians and the most eastern ranges of the Alps, and lacks major range fluctuations related to glaciations, although there is evidence for extra-Mediterranean refugia in the Carpathian Basin. The eastern clade could have had refugia in central Asia. Our results exclude the potential allopatric origin of the ‘spring’ and ‘summer’ arion, and support the hypothesis that the existence of the two forms could be a result of local adaptation to the distinctive phenology of host plant flowering which is manifested in the genetic differences between them. Wolbachia infection has been ruled out as a driver of sympatric speciation in P. arion.
Regulation of plant biomass accumulation is a key issue in effective grassland conservation in Europe. Burning is an alternative tool to regulate biomass dynamics in semi-natural grasslands even in ...the absence of grazing or mowing. We tested the effects of regular spring burning on the biomass fractions and fine-scale plant species composition of species-rich foothill grasslands in North-Hungary. There were five regularly burned and five control grasslands in the study; we collected twenty 20×20-cm sized biomass samples from each. We analyzed the main fractions (litter, graminoid and forb biomass), and the species-level biomass scores, and flowering success in the control and burned grasslands. We revealed that fire increased the amount of forb biomass and decreased the amount of litter, which suggested that regular burning might be feasible for regulating biomass dynamics. The non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS) showed a high similarity of the control and burned grasslands in species composition. However, plant diversity, and the number of flowering shoots decreased significantly in the burned grasslands. In regularly burned sites we found a significant decline of specialist species, as well as of steppic flora elements. Our results showed that besides its positive effect on biomass dynamics, high-frequency burning threatens the overall diversity and specialist plant species in semi-natural grasslands. We recommend that proper fire regimes should be first studied experimentally, to provide a scientific basis for the application of prescribed burning management in such habitats.
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•We studied the effects of regular spring burning in species-rich foothill grasslands.•Forb biomass and living biomass increased, litter decreased in burned grasslands.•Plant diversity and flowering success were higher in unburned control grasslands.•Species composition remained similar, but specialist plants declined after fire.•Prescribed burning should be tested in small patches and lower frequency.
Existing data on the phylogeography of European taxa of steppic provenance suggests that species were widely distributed during glacial periods but underwent range contraction and fragmentation ...during interglacials into “warm-stage refugia.” Among the steppe-related invertebrates that have been examined, the majority has been insects, but data on the phylogeography of snails is wholly missing. To begin to fill this gap, phylogeographic and niche modeling studies on the presumed steppic snail
Caucasotachea vindobonensis
were conducted. Surprisingly, reconstruction of ancestral areas suggests that extant
C. vindobonensis
probably originated in the Balkans and survived there during the Late Pleistocene glaciations, with a more recent colonization of the Carpatho-Pannonian and the Ponto-Caspian regions. In the Holocene,
C. vindobonensis
colonized between the Sudetes and the Carpathians to the north, where its recent and current distribution may have been facilitated by anthropogenic translocations. Together, these data suggest a possible non-steppic origin of
C. vindobonensis
. Further investigation may reveal the extent to which the steppic snail assemblages consist partly of Holocene newcomers.
One of the author’s name of this article was incorrectly published as “Chris Wade”. This is now presented correctly in this article as “Christopher M. Wade”.
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