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At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

PubMed1999

Phylogeny of Japanese papilionid butterflies inferred from nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial ND5 gene.

Phylogenetic relationships among the Japanese papilionid butterflies were analyzed by comparing 783 nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial gene encoding NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (ND5). Phylogenetic trees of the representative species from each family in the superfamily Papilionoidea revealed that the species of the family Papilionidae and those of all other families formed distinct clusters, with a few species of the family Hesperiidae (Hesperioidea) as an outgroup. In the phylogenetic trees of most Japanese species of the family Papilionidae with Nymphalis xanthomelas (Nymphalidae) as an outgroup, the tribe Parnassiini (Parnassiinae) formed a cluster, and the rest formed the other cluster in which the tribe Zerynthiini (Parnassiinae) and the subfamily Papilioninae formed different subclusters. In the Papilioninae cluster, the tribes Troidini and Graphiini formed a subcluster, and the tribe Papilionini formed the other subcluster. These results generally agree with the traditional classification of the papilionid butterflies based on their morphological characteristics and support the proposed evolutionary genealogy of the butterflies based on their morphology, behavior, and larval host plants, except that the tribes Parnasiini and Zerynthiini (both Parnassiinae) are not in the same cluster.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Evasive response to ultrasound by the crepuscular butterfly Manataria maculata.

The crepuscular nymphalid butterfly Manataria maculata was studied in Monteverde cloud forest, Costa Rica, during the dry season reproductive diapause. M. maculata has ears in the form of Vogel's organs located near the base of the forewings. Its behaviour in response to bursts of ultrasonic pulses (26 kHz, 110 dB SPL at 1 m) was condition-dependent. At dusk and dawn the sound consistently elicited evasive responses, similar to those of moths, in flying individuals. In contrast day-roosting individuals always remained motionless although they were alert to other stimuli. The daily movements between day- and night-roosts coincided in time and light intensity with the activity of insectivorous bats. This is the first reported case of ultrasonic hearing connected to evasive flights in a true butterfly (Papilionoidea). It strongly supports the idea that echolocating bats were involved in the evolution of hearing in butterflies.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Analysis of coordinated circling and linear flights of a lycaenid butterfly species.

Circling and linear flights of a hairstreak Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus were recorded in natural habitat with a high-speed video camera. Circling flight paths were resolved into rotation and shift components; values on X- and Y-coordinates of the butterfly position were separately extracted against time and fitted with a regression line composed of a sinusoidal curve and a linear line. From the obtained parameters, diameter, rotation number, and flight velocity were calculated. Flapping movements were also analyzed. Two types of circling flights, horizontal and vertical, were discriminated. In both flights, the rotation diameter was about 10 cm, rotation number of 3/s, flight velocity of 0.9 m/s, and wing-beat frequency of 20/s. The coordination of paired butterflies in circling flight showed a higher correlation in the horizontal circling flight. In the vertical circling flight, butterflies accelerated the downstroke speed of the wing in the ascending phase. They flew about four times faster in linear flights than in circling flights due to the higher frequency of wing beats.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

A simple method to discriminate diapause from non-diapause pupae in large and small white butterflies, Pieris brassicae and P. rapae crucivora.

Differences in colour and shape have been used to discriminate diapause pupae from non-diapause pupae in butterflies. In the present study, we describe a simple discrimination method based on differences in the specific gravity of diapause and non-diapause pupae of large and small white butterflies, Pieris brassicae and Pieris rapae crucivora. When put into water, diapause pupae sink to the bottom (specific gravity is above 1.0), whereas non-diapause pupae float on the surface (specific gravity is below 1.0). Nuclear magnetic resonance microimaging revealed that this difference in specific gravity is due to a difference in the volume of an internal cavity located between the thorax and the abdomen in the pupae. The cavity appears quite early in development. We also examined the cavity in pupae of the unrelated swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus, and found a similar cavity. However, in this species, the cavity is very small and, as a consequence, non-diapause as well as diapause pupae sink in water.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Determination of iridoid glycosides in larvae and adults of butterfly Melitaea cinxia by partial filling micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry.

The iridoid glycosides, methyl catalpol, asperuloside, verbenalin, cinnamoyl catalpol, catalpol and aucubin, were studied from both larvae and adults of butterfly Melitaea cinxia. Special emphasis in the study was put on finding a correlation between the iridoid glycoside content in butterflies and plants. An optimised partial filling micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatographic-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometric (PF-MECC-ESI-MS) method was employed for the separation and identification of the six iridoid glycosides. In this work, the isolation and determination of catalpol and aucubin from extracts of both larvae and adults of Melitaea cinxia butterflies is demonstrated. The PF-MECC-ESI-MS method, using the [M+Na]+, [M+Li]+ and/or [M+NH(4)]+ adducts in ESI-MS, was used for quantification of aucubin and catalpol in the insects. In addition, the identification of all analytes was attempted by direct infusion MS/MS analysis. LOQ values for the iridoid glycosides varied between 10 mg/l (for verbenalin) to 50 mg/l (for catalpol and aucubin) corresponding to 0.1% of the samplés dry mass. A correlation was noticed between the concentrations of iridoid glycosides in plants and the concentrations in larvae feeding on them.

Aging↗

PubMed2004

Fractal dimension in butterflies' wings: a novel approach to understanding wing patterns?

The geometrical complexity in the wings of several, taxonomically different butterflies, is analyzed in terms of their fractal dimension. Preliminary results provide some evidence on important questions about the (dis)similarity of the wing patterns in terms of their fractal dimension. The analysis is restricted to two groups which are widely used in the literature as typical examples of mimicry, and a small number of unrelated species, thus implying the consideration of only a fraction of the wing pattern diversity. The members of the first mimicry ring, composed by the species Danaus plexippus (better known as the monarch butterfly), and the two subspecies Basilarchia archippus obsoleta (or northern viceroy) and Basilarchia archippus hoffmanni (or tropical viceroy), are found to have a very similar value for the fractal dimension of their wing patterns, even though they do not look very similar at first sight. It is also found that the female of another species (Neophasia terlootii), which looks similar to the members of the previous group, does not share the same feature, while the Lycorea ilione albescens does share it. For the members of the second group of mimicry related butterflies, the Greta nero nero and the Hypoleria cassotis, it is shown that they also have very close values for the fractal dimension of their wing patterns. Finally, it is shown that other species, which apparently have very similar wing patterns, do not have the same fractal dimension. A possible, not completely tested hypothesis is then conjectured: the formation of groups by individuals whose wing patterns have an almost equal fractal dimension may be due to the fact that they do share the same developmental raw material, and that this common feature is posteriorly modified by natural selection, possibly through predation.

Animals↗

PubMed2007

De novo synthesis vs. sequestration: negatively correlated metabolic traits and the evolution of host plant specialization in cyanogenic butterflies.

Larvae of Heliconius butterflies (Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae) feed exclusively on cyanogenic leaves of Passiflora (passion vine). Most Heliconius manufacture cyanogenic glycosides (cyanogens) and some species sequester cyanogens from host plants. We compare ability to sequester simple monoglycoside cyclopentenyl (SMC) cyanogens and manufacture aliphatic cyanogens in 12 Heliconius species, including larvae that are specialized (single host species) and generalized (many host species). All butterflies tested higher for cyanide concentrations when reared on plants that larvae can sequester from (SMC plants) than when reared on plants that larvae do not sequester from (non-SMC plants). Specialists in the sara-sapho clade sequestered SMC cyanogens from specific host plants at seven times that of Passiflora generalists fed the same hosts. In contrast, sara-sapho clade species reared on non-SMC plants had significantly lower cyanide concentrations from de novo synthesis than generalists fed the same plants. Furthermore, cyanogen analyses indicated that Heliconius sara butterflies reared on an SMC host had a greater proportion of sequestered SMC cyanogens (95.0%) than de novo-synthesized aliphatic cyanogens (5.0%). Thus, sequestration and de novo synthesis are negatively correlated traits. Results suggest that losing the ability to synthesize cyanogens has restricted sara-sapho clade species to specific hosts containing SMC cyanogens and explains dietary restriction in this clade.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

The eyes of a patrolling butterfly: visual field and eye structure in the Orange Sulphur, Colias eurytheme (Lepidoptera, Pieridae).

Sensory information plays a critical role in determining an animal's behavior on both proximate and evolutionary timescales. Butterflies, like many other insects, use vision extensively over their lifetimes, and yet relatively little work has been published to date on their visual capabilities. We describe the visual system of a pierid butterfly, Colias eurytheme, with the ultimate goal of better understanding its role in shaping the behavior of this animal. We made several measurements: visual field dimensions, eye surface area, interommatidial angle (Deltaphi), facet diameter (D), and eye parameter (p). C. eurytheme had a large visual field and considerable regional variation in visual acuity, as inferred by Deltaphi and D. When compared to females, males had larger eye surface areas, smaller Deltaphi, and larger D in all regions except ventrally. Both sexes had proportionally large eye surface areas compared to other butterflies. Minimum p in males was small, indicating that some regions of their eyes may operate close to the diffraction limit. Finally, we found that both eye surface area and D scaled positively, but with negative allometry to body size. We discuss the relevance of these visual characteristics to the biology and behavior of C. eurytheme.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Analyzing the reflections from single ommatidia in the butterfly compound eye with Voronoi diagrams.

This paper presents a robust method for the automated segmentation and quantitative measurement of reflections from single ommatidia in the butterfly compound eye. Digital pictures of the butterfly eye shine recorded with a digital camera are processed to yield binary images from which single facet centers can be extracted using a morphological image analysis procedure. The location of the facet centers is corrected by fitting in-line facet centers to a second-order polynomial. Based on the new centers a Voronoi diagram is constructed. In the case of the eye shine images, the Voronoi diagram defines a hexagonal lattice that overlaps with the original facet borders, allowing instantaneous quantification of the reflections from single ommatidia. We provide two typical examples to demonstrate that the developed technique may be a powerful tool to characterize in vivo the heterogeneity of butterfly eyes and to study the dynamic control of the light flux by the pupil mechanism.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2004

Molecular phylogeny of Cotesia Cameron, 1891 (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae) parasitoids associated with Melitaeini butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Melitaeini).

Phylogenetic relationships among Cotesia Cameron (Braconidae) species parasitising Melitaeini butterflies were examined using DNA sequence data (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I and NADH1 dehydrogenase genes, nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region) as well as 12 microsatellite loci. Molecular data were available from ostensibly six species of Cotesia from 16 host butterfly species in Europe, Asia, and North America. Analysis of the combined sequence data using both maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood revealed two distinct Cotesia clades. In one clade (C. acuminata (Reinhard); C. bignellii (Marshall)) host ranges are apparently narrow and, although Euphydryas (s. lato) is well-utilised, permeation of Melitaea (s. lato) has been slight. In the other clade (C. melitaearum (Wilkinson); C. lycophron (Nixon); C. cynthiae (Nixon)) host utilization across the Melitaeini as a whole is more extensive and the data are consistent with more recent, or active, speciation processes. Neighbour-joining trees calculated separately for the two main clades based on chord distance (DCE) of microsatellite allele frequencies were consistent with phylogenetic trees obtained from the sequence data. Our analysis strongly suggests the presence of several additional, previously unrecognised, Cotesia species parasitising this group of butterflies.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Wing pattern evolution and the origins of mimicry among North American admiral butterflies (Nymphalidae: Limenitis).

The evolution of wing pattern diversity in butterflies has emerged as a model system for understanding the origins and maintenance of adaptive phenotypic novelty. Admiral butterflies (genus Limenitis) are an attractive system for studying wing pattern diversity because mimicry is common among the North American species and hybrid zones occur wherever mimetic and non-mimetic wing pattern races meet. However, the utility of this system has been limited because the evolutionary relationships among these butterflies remain unclear. Here I present a robust species-level phylogeny of Limenitis based on 1911 bp of two mitochondrial genes (COI and COII) and 904 bp of EF1-alpha for all five of the Nearctic species/wing pattern races, the majority of the Palearctic species, and three outgroup genera; Athyma, Moduza (Limenitidini), and Neptis (Limenitidinae: Neptini). Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian analyses indicate that the North American species are a well-supported, monophyletic lineage that is most closely related to the widespread, Palearctic, Poplar admiral (L. populi). Within North America, the Viceroy (L. archippus) is the basal lineage while the relationships among the remaining species are not well resolved. A combined maximum-likelihood analysis, however, indicates that the two western North America species (L. lorquini and L. weidemeyerii) are sister taxa and closely related to the wing pattern subspecies of the polytypic Limenitis arthemis species complex. These results are consistent with (1) an ancestral host-shift to Salicaceae by the common ancestor of the Poplar admiral and the Nearctic admiral lineage, (2) a single colonization of the Nearctic, and (3) a subsequent radiation of the North American forms leading to at least three independent origins of mimicry.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

A putative binding protein for lipophilic substances related to butterfly oviposition.

A unique protein of 23 kDa (Jf23) was found in the tarsus of the female swallowtail butterfly, Atrophaneura alcinous. Jf23 has 38% identity with a bilin-binding protein, which was found in the cabbage butterfly, Pieris brassicae, and which has two consensus sequences in common with the members of the lipocalin family, suggesting that it is a binding protein for lipophilic ligands. Western blot analysis showed that Jf23 was expressed only in the female, and not in the male. Electrophysiological response of the female tarsi was stimulated by methanolic extract of their host plant, Dutchman's pipe (Aristolochia debilis). The stimulated response was depressed by the presence of Jf23 antiserum. These results suggest that Jf23 is one of the chemosensory signaling proteins, which plays one or more roles in female butterfly oviposition.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2001

The generation and diversification of butterfly eyespot color patterns.

BACKGROUND: A fundamental challenge of evolutionary and developmental biology is understanding how new characters arise and change. The recently derived eyespots on butterfly wings vary extensively in number and pattern between species and play important roles in predator avoidance. Eyespots form through the activity of inductive organizers (foci) at the center of developing eyespot fields. Foci are the proposed source of a morphogen, the levels of which determine the color of surrounding wing scale cells. However, it is unknown how reception of the focal signal translates into rings of different-colored scales, nor how different color schemes arise in different species. RESULTS: We have identified several transcription factors, including butterfly homologs of the Drosophila Engrailed/Invected and Spalt proteins, that are deployed in concentric territories corresponding to the future rings of pigmented scales that compose the adult eyespot. We have isolated a new Bicyclus anynana wing pattern mutant, Goldeneye, in which the scales of one inner color ring become the color of a different ring. These changes correlate with shifts in transcription factor expression, suggesting that Goldeneye affects an early regulatory step in eyespot color patterning. In different butterfly species, the same transcription factors are expressed in eyespot fields, but in different relative spatial domains that correlate with divergent eyespot color schemes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that signaling from the focus induces nested rings of regulatory gene expression that subsequently control the final color pattern. Furthermore, the remarkably plastic regulatory interactions downstream of focal signaling have facilitated the evolution of eyespot diversity.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Ultrabithorax function in butterfly wings and the evolution of insect wing patterns.

BACKGROUND: . The morphological and functional evolution of appendages has played a critical role in animal evolution, but the developmental genetic mechanisms underlying appendage diversity are not understood. Given that homologous appendage development is controlled by the same Hox gene in different organisms, and that Hox genes are transcription factors, diversity may evolve from changes in the regulation of Hox target genes. Two impediments to understanding the role of Hox genes in morphological evolution have been the limited number of organisms in which Hox gene function can be studied and the paucity of known Hox-regulated target genes. We have therefore analyzed a butterfly homeotic mutant 'Hindsight', in which portions of the ventral hindwing pattern are transformed to ventral forewing identity, and we have compared the regulation of target genes by the Ultrabithorax (Ubx) gene product in Lepidopteran and Dipteran hindwings. RESULTS: . We show that Ubx gene expression is lost from patches of cells in developing Hindsight hindwings, correlating with changes in wing pigmentation, color pattern elements, and scale morphology. We use this mutant to study how regulation of target genes by Ubx protein differs between species. We find that several Ubx-regulated genes in the Drosophila haltere are not repressed by Ubx in butterfly hindwings, but that Distal-less (Dll) expression is regulated by Ubx in a unique manner in butterflies. CONCLUSIONS: . The morphological diversification of insect hindwings has involved the acquisition of different sets of target genes by Ubx in different lineages. Changes in Hox-regulated target gene sets are, in general, likely to underlie the morphological divergence of homologous structures between animals.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Combined roles of contact stimulant and deterrents in assessment of host-plant quality by ovipositing zebra swallowtail butterflies.

Zebra swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) butterflies are stimulated to oviposit by a single compound, 3-caffeoyl-muco-quinic acid (1). Analysis of the aqueous extracts of the leaves of the host. Asimina triloba, showed that they contained stimulant 1, its isomer (2), and the flavonoids rutin (3) and nicotiflorine (4) as major components. We compared the concentrations of compounds 1-4 in terminal leaves (TL) and expanded leaves (EL) of the host plants at four different times throughout the growing season. In spring, the concentration of 1 was highest in TLs, and flavonoids were not detectable or present at low levels. As the season progressed, however, the concentrations of flavonoids increased, reached maxima by late summer, and then decreased as the plants started senescing. There were also significant differences in the concentrations of these compounds between TLs and ELs. In a choice assay with model leaves, we tested equivalent amounts of post-dichloromethane aqueous extracts made in spring (May) and in fall (September). September extracts received significantly fewer approaches and eggs. In greenhouse experiments with potted A. triloba plants, the butterflies chose some leaves to lay eggs, while others were rejected or ignored. Analyses showed that the concentrations of compound 1 were not significantly different in the three kinds of leaves. The flavonoids (3 and 4), however, were significantly higher in the leaves that were ignored. Multiple-choice tests using model plants suggested that concentrations of both flavonoids and stimulant were important in assessing host suitability. There was a gradual decrease in approaches as the concentration of 1 decreased. Higher amounts of flavonoids deterred egg laying even in the presence of high concentrations of stimulant 1. At lower concentrations of 1, the addition of low doses of flavonoids deterred egg laying. Thus, the results suggest that the butterflies use both qualitative and quantitative information about these compounds to assess host quality. This behavior may have evolved to take advantage of seasonal variation in the chemistry of their host, A. triloba.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Evolution of homeotic gene regulation and function in flies and butterflies.

It has been proposed that the evolution of homeotic genes parallels, and to some degree directs, the evolution of segment diversity in the myriapod-insect lineage. But the discovery of discrete Antennapedia complex (ANT-C) and bithorax complex (BX-C) gene members in crustacea, chelicerates, annelids and various insects, as well as in vertebrates, indicates that the expansion and diversification of homeotic genes preceded the diversification of arthropods and insects. How, then, have these genes influenced the evolution of body plans? To address this question, we now examine homeotic gene expression and regulation in butterflies (Lepidoptera), which, unlike flies, possess larval abdominal limbs and two pairs of wings. We show that the difference in larval limb number between these insects results from striking changes in BX-C gene regulation in the butterfly abdomen, and we deduce that the wing-patterning genes regulated by Ultrabithorax have diverged in the course of butterfly and fly evolution. These findings have general implications for the role of homeotic genes in animal evolution.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

Chemical communication: butterfly anti-aphrodisiac lures parasitic wasps.

To locate their hosts, parasitic wasps can 'eavesdrop' on the intraspecific chemical communications of their insect hosts. Here we describe an example in which the information exploited by the parasitic wasp Trichogramma brassicae is a butterfly anti-aphrodisiac that is passed from male to female Pieris brassicae butterflies during mating, to render them less attractive to conspecific males. When the tiny wasp detects the odour of a mated female butterfly, it rides on her (Fig. 1) to her egg-laying sites and then parasitizes the freshly laid eggs. If this fascinating strategy is widespread in nature, it could severely constrain the evolution of sexual communication between hosts.

Acetonitriles↗

PubMed2002

Unconventional lift-generating mechanisms in free-flying butterflies.

Flying insects generate forces that are too large to be accounted for by conventional steady-state aerodynamics. To investigate these mechanisms of force generation, we trained red admiral butterflies, Vanessa atalanta, to fly freely to and from artificial flowers in a wind tunnel, and used high-resolution, smoke-wire flow visualizations to obtain qualitative, high-speed digital images of the air flow around their wings. The images show that free-flying butterflies use a variety of unconventional aerodynamic mechanisms to generate force: wake capture, two different types of leading-edge vortex, active and inactive upstrokes, in addition to the use of rotational mechanisms and the Weis-Fogh 'clap-and-fling' mechanism. Free-flying butterflies often used different aerodynamic mechanisms in successive strokes. There seems to be no one 'key' to insect flight, instead insects rely on a wide array of aerodynamic mechanisms to take off, manoeuvre, maintain steady flight, and for landing.

Air Movements↗