Metapopulation Structure and Movement of a Threatened Butterfly Parnassius bremeri (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) in Korea

Abstract

Understanding the metapopulation structure and movement of a species are required for conserving the species. In this paper, migration patterns and connectivity of patches of a threatened butterfly, Parnassius bremeri Bremer, were postulated using the mark-release-recapture (MRR) technique in a habitat located in the mid-southern region of the Korean peninsula. A total of 194 individuals were captured (137 males and 57 females) and, of them, 93 individuals (73 males and 20 females) were recaptured during the MRR experiment. The migration analysis showed 23-150% immigration and 28-53% emigration. There were high correlations between the migrating individuals and the distance between patches, but there was no correlation between migrating individuals and patch size or between migrating individuals and the number of host plants. Consequently, the migration of butterflies occurred frequently between closer patches, while patch size and quantity of the food plant had minor effects on migration behavior. Additionally, males migrated more frequently than females. Analysis of the migration patterns of P. bremeri showed that the central patch played an important role on linking patch groups and more frequent migrations were monitored between nearby patches than between the remote patches. This study suggested that active migrations take place between the neighboring multiple patches and these are accelerated if there is a stepping-stone patch between them.

Transcriptome‐derived molecular resources for the conservation of threatened butterflies in Korea

“…This butterfly species has been found in Russia, Korea, and China. It prefers open landscapes and is mainly noticed in slopes, rocky grassland, and forests as high as the alpine zone (1500 m) and forest steppe (Kim et al 1999;Ko et al 2004). In Korea, the species is listed as endangered species II and is regionally protected as Endangered Wildlife by law.…”

“…Further, the mitochondrial genome has been accessed to examine its phylogeny in the Lepidoptera taxa (Kim et al 2009). The Illumina sequencing platform has screened microsatellite markers in the species and has been effective in addressing population diversity (Kim et al 2017). With the developmental stage transcriptome profiling, P. bremeri molecular resources critical for juvenile hormone signaling, ecdysone, Wnt, hedgehog, and notch signaling have been enriched (Lee et al 2022).…”

“…The decline in the overwintering populations of monarch butterflies can only be ascertained if polymorphism could be suggested in the DNA sequences of historical versus contemporary specimens, and that would be necessary to directly inform ongoing conservation efforts (Pocius et al 2021). The availability of mitochondrial genome information for such endangered butterfly species also assists genome and transcriptome-guided conservation efforts by accumulating genetic information for further studies on population diversity and evolution (Chen et al 2014;Jeong et al 2017;Kim et al 2021;Lee et al 2020). To sum up, the TSI of Korea has taken innovative steps in characterizing the de novo transcriptome assembly of endangered Korean butterflies.…”

“…It prefers open landscapes and is mainly noticed in slopes, rocky grassland, and forests as high as the alpine zone (1500 m) and forest steppe (Kim et al . 1999; Ko et al . 2004).…”

Developmental Transcriptome Analysis of Red-Spotted Apollo Butterfly, Parnassius bremeri

“…Most previous studies on P. bremeri focused mainly on the organization of its mitogenome [ 4 ], population studies [ 5 ], ecological characteristics, sex pheromones [ 6 ] and polyol profiles [ 7 ]. Few reports illustrated the importance of population genetics and conservation biology through development of microsatellite markers.…”