The genetic consequences of different dispersal behaviours in Lycaenid butterfly species

Abstract

Many studies in population ecology have shown that related species have different dispersal behaviours. Species with sedentary and migratory behaviour exist in butterflies. While the genetic responses to population isolation are well studied, the effects of different dispersal behaviours of species are widely unknown. Therefore, we analysed 19 allozyme loci of two lycaenid butterflies, Cupido minimus as a sedentary butterfly and Aricia agestis as a mobile and expansive species. We collected 594 individuals (280 of C. minimus and 314 of A. agestis) in a western German study region with adjacent areas in Luxembourg and northeastern France. The genetic differentiation among populations of A. agestis (FST=3.9%) was lower than in C. minimus (FST=5.6%). Both species built up an isolation-by-distance system, which is more pronounced in A. agestis than in C. minimus. The genetic diversity in C. minumus populations (e.g. Ptot=73.5%) is higher for all analysed parameters than in A. agestis (e.g. Ptot=52.1%). Both species show specific genetic characteristics fitting with their different dispersal behaviours and respective ecological strategies. In the light of conservation genetics, we deduce that highly fragmented populations do not necessarily have a high extinction probability, but this risk depending much more on specific population genetic structures. In the studied species, C. minimus preserves a complex genetic constitution by high population densities. The patchily distributed A. agestis represents less rare alleles, present only in some populations, and holds up genetic diversity by high mobility.

Comparative Landscape Genetics of Three Closely Related Sympatric Hesperid Butterflies with Diverging Ecological Traits

“…This coherence between wide ecological amplitudes, high rates of individual exchanges (e.g. gene flow) and thus low genetic differentiation were frequently observed in other studies [84]–[85]. However, it needs to be considered that on a larger study extent, barriers such as oceans, large lakes, mountain ranges might become important for gene flow acting on a macro-scale [86]–[87].…”

Evidence for evolutionary change associated with the recent range expansion of the British butterfly, Aricia agestis, in response to climate change

“…Their estimates of expected heterozygosity within metapopulations (ranging from 0.175 to 0.254) are very similar to the estimates of expected heterozygosity at our sites (0.204–0.227; Table 1). Diversity estimates for A. agestis were slightly lower in central Europe, with expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.145 to 0.178, but with slightly higher estimates of F ST and evidence for IBD (Habel & Schmitt 2009). Conversely, the low F ST values observed among A. agestis populations throughout the UK in this study and by Lai & Pullin (2005) suggest patterns of high gene flow with many individuals dispersing relatively short distances among long‐established populations, rather than fewer long‐distance colonists (Hill et al.…”

Allozyme-Based Phylogeny of North AmericanCallophrys(s. l.) (Lycaenidae)

“…Although DNA studies are more frequent in the recent taxonomic literature, allozyme research remains a useful alternative tool for understanding phylogenetic relationships (Nice & Shapiro 2001;Pratt & Wright 2002;Vandewoestijne & Baguette 2002;Pratt et al 2006;Habel et al 2008;Habel & Schmitt 2009). Vandewoestijne & Baguette (2002) examined the amount or value of information from Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) compared to allozymes.…”

“…Genetic studies using allozymes were used to examine the phylogeography of the marbled white butterfly in Northern Africa through Europe (Habel et al 2008). Allozymes were also used to show that genetic differences between populations of two lycaenid species reflect the dispersal differences between populations (Habel & Schmitt 2009). Analytical considerations.…”