Some 280 types have been examined hy the author when he revised the African speeies of Anthene Doubleday and closely allied genera, Triclema Karsch, 1893, Cupidesthes Aurivillius, 1895, Neurellipes ...Bethune-Baker, 1910 and Monile Ungemach, 1932. In the present paper, the distribution of these types in the various museums is examined and briefly commented.Original Abstract: Quelque 280 types ont ete examines par l'auteur pour la revision des Anthene Doubleday africains et des genres proches, Triclema Karsch, 1893, Cupiclesthes Aurhillius, 1895, Neurellipes Bethune-Baker, 1910, et Monile Untiemach, 1932. Dans cette note, la repartition de ces types entre les dillerents musees est examinee et commentee.
Modern multilocus molecular techniques are a powerful tool in the detection and analysis of cryptic taxa. However, its shortcoming is that with allopatric populations it reveals phylogenetic ...lineages, not biological species. The increasing power of coalescent multilocus analysis leads to the situation in which nearly every geographically isolated or semi‐isolated population can be identified as a lineage and therefore raised to species rank. It leads to artificial taxonomic inflation and as a consequence creates an unnecessary burden on the conservation of biodiversity. To solve this problem, we suggest combining modern lineage delimitation techniques with the biological species concept. We discuss several explicit principles on how genetic markers can be used to detect cryptic entities that have properties of biological species (i.e. of actually or potentially reproductively isolated taxa). Using these principles we rearranged the taxonomy of the butterfly species close to Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) ripartii. The subgenus Agrodiaetus is a model system in evolutionary research, but its taxonomy is poorly elaborated because, as a rule, most of its species are morphologically poorly differentiated. The taxon P. (A.) valiabadi has been supposed to be one of the few exceptions from this rule due to its accurately distinguishable wing pattern. We discovered that in fact traditionally recognized P. valiabadi is a triplet of cryptic species, strongly differentiated by their karyotypes and mitochondrial haplotypes.
The Poritiinae are a diverse subfamily of lycaenid butterflies with about 700 species divided into two major groups: the Asian endemic tribe Poritiini, and the African endemic tribe Liptenini. Among ...these, the Liptenini are notable for their lichenivorous diet and the strong but apparently non‐mutualistic ant associations of many species. We present the first molecular phylogeny for this subfamily, based on data from 14 gene regions, and including 218 representatives from 177 taxa (approximately 25% of species) in 50 of the 58 (86%) recognized genera. From this analysis, we confirm the division of the subfamily into two tribes, and we rearrange the Liptenini tribe into six subtribes, Durbaniina, Pentilina, Liptenina, Iridanina and Epitolina, plus a new tribe, Cooksoniina subtrib. n., to fill a gap in the nomenclature revealed by the phylogenetic analysis. We also point to several genera in need of further taxonomic revision. Ancestral range reconstruction could not infer the range of the common ancestor of the Poritiinae; however, the common ancestor of the Poritiini was likely Asian, while that of the Liptenini was likely African, with subsequent narrowing of ranges in several lineages.
We present a well‐resolved molecular phylogeny of the lycaenid subfamily Poritiinae based on 14 genes from 177 taxa.
We confirm the division of the subfamily into two tribes, and divide the Liptenini tribe into six subtribes, including the new subtribe Cooksoniina.
The common ancestor of the Poritiini tribe was likely Asian, while that of the Liptenini was likely African, with subsequent narrowing of ranges in several lineages.
The butterfly diversity of Amrabad Tiger Reserve was assessed from March 2018 to February 2021. A total of 106 species belonging to the families Nymphalidae (36 species), Lycaenidae (30 species), ...Pieridae (18 species), Hesperiidae (14 species), and Papilionidae (8 species) were recorded. Of these, 12 species belonged to the Schedules I, II & IV of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, and four were common in this region.
In several butterfl ies, the posterior end of the hindwings resembles a butterfl y head when the butterfl y is perched with its wings closed. There is evidence that this "false head" (FH) defl ects ...predator attacks towards non-vital parts of the body. If the FH protects from visually oriented predators, its condition in an individual butterfl y could provide information about its quality to prospective mates. We tested two hypotheses based on this idea by comparing the probability of mating, duration of copulation and size of the ejaculate received by females of Callophrys xami (Lycaenidae) with an intact FH and those with an ablated FH in a paired experiment. The absence of a FH had no effect on the probability of mating, but females with an ablated FH copulated for longer and received larger ejaculates, which supports the hypothesis that males prefer females with damaged FHs because this reveals the female's ability to defl ect attacks. Male or female (or both) cryptic choice could also account for our results, but more studies are needed to test this.
Harsh environments (e.g., hypoxia and cold temperatures) of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau have a substantial influence on adaptive evolution in various species. Some species in Lycaenidae, a large and ...widely distributed family of butterflies, are adapted to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Here, we sequenced four mitogenomes of two lycaenid species in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and performed a detailed comparative mitogenomic analysis including nine other lycaenid mitogenomes (nine species) to explore the molecular basis of high-altitude adaptation. Based on mitogenomic data, Bayesian inference, and maximum likelihood methods, we recovered a lycaenid phylogeny of Curetinae + (Aphnaeinae + (Lycaeninae + (Theclinae + Polyommatinae))). The gene content, gene arrangement, base composition, codon usage, and transfer RNA genes (sequence and structure) were highly conserved within Lycaenidae.
not only lacked the dihydrouridine arm but also showed anticodon and copy number diversity. The ratios of non-synonymous substitutions to synonymous substitutions of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) were less than 1.0, indicating that all PCGs evolved under purifying selection. However, signals of positive selection were detected in
in the two Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau lycaenid species, indicating that this gene may be associated with high-altitude adaptation. Three large non-coding regions, i.e.,
-
(control region),
, and
, were found in the mitogenomes of all lycaenid species. Conserved motifs in three non-coding regions (
,
, and
) and long sequences in two non-coding regions (
and
) were detected in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau lycaenid species, suggesting that these non-coding regions were involved in high-altitude adaptation. In addition to the characterization of Lycaenidae mitogenomes, this study highlights the importance of both PCGs and non-coding regions in high-altitude adaptation.
To feed on prey efficiently, predators must overcome the prey's defensive traits. However, there are fewer reports on the antagonistic traits of predators than there are on the defensive traits of ...prey.
Here, we focus on prey–predator interactions between social aphids and aphidophagous lepidopteran larvae. Larvae of Taraka hamada (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) are specialist predators of the social aphid Ceratovacuna japonica (Homoptera: Aphididae), and later instar larvae have long lateral body setae. Because this aphid produces defensive individuals (soldiers), we hypothesised that T. hamada larvae have an antagonistic trait that prevents attacks by soldiers and tested whether that trait might be their lateral body setae.
To test whether a larva's lateral body setae constitute an antagonistic trait against the soldier's physical defence, we compared the rate of aphid consumption per unit time and the vulnerability to attack by soldiers between larvae with short lateral body setae and larvae with long lateral body setae in the presence of soldiers.
Our results showed that the aphid consumption rate of larvae with long lateral body setae was significantly higher than that of larvae with short lateral body setae. Furthermore, the larvae with short lateral body setae were more vulnerable to soldier attacks than the larvae with long lateral body setae. These results imply that the length of the lateral body setae of T. hamada larvae affects their vulnerability to soldier attacks and that the lateral body setae are an antagonistic trait against the soldiers of this social aphid.
In the aphidophagous larvae of Taraka hamada (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), the aphid consumption rate of larvae with long lateral body setae was significantly higher than that of larvae with short lateral body setae under the situation of the existence of their prey's soldiers (= defensive individuals).
The larvae with short lateral body setae were more vulnerable to soldier attacks than the larvae with long lateral body setae.
The lateral body setae of the larvae are an antagonistic trait against the soldiers.
Based on a global compilation of data on ant associates of 523 Lycaenidae species, a synthesis is attempted as to which ants participate in these interactions. Ants from 63 genera have thus far been ...observed as visitors of facultative myrmecophiles or as hosts of obligate myrmecophiles among the Lycaenidae. Over 98% of records come from nectarivorous and trophobiotic ants in just three subfamilies, viz. Formicinae, Myrmicinae and Dolichoderinae, with the genera
Crematogaster
and
Camponotus
occupying the top ranks. Accumulation analysis suggests that rather few ant genera remain to be added to the list of associates. The representation of ant genera as attendants of lycaenid immatures is related to their global species richness, but with some notable exceptions. Ants that form ecologically dominant, large, long-lived colonies are over-represented as hosts of obligate myrmecophiles. The taxonomic diversity of lycaenid-ant associations is highest in the Oriental and Australian region, and lowest in the Neotropical and Afrotropical region. Among tropical African lycaenids, this is due to two butterfly lineages (genus
Lepidochrysops
and subfamily Aphnaeinae) that have massively radiated in the Neogene, but mostly maintaining their general affiliations with either
Camponotus
or
Crematogaster
ants, respectively. Many tropical and subtropical lycaenids nowadays form associations also with invasive alien tramp ants, giving rise to novel mutualistic interactions.
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