Parnassius apollo last-instar larvae development prediction by analysis of weather condition as a tool in the species’ conservation

Parnassius apollo (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) has already disappeared or is under threat of extinction in many of its former habitats. It has been documented that weather conditions – anomalies in particular – contributed to this process. In this study, we combined developmental data obtained previously for the last-instar Apollo larvae (collected in 1996, 1997, and 2003) with corresponding meteorological data to assess the effects of ambient temperature and rainfall episodes on the duration and the completion of the instar. For comparing the temperature effect, we applied the degree-day concept. We found significant positive correlation between the number of rainy days during the instar development (x) and its duration time (y): y = 8.293 + 0.936x (± 2.813) (r = 0.662, P < 10⁻⁷). Logarithmic transformation of the growth curves of the last-instar Apollo larvae revealed that there was no difference in growth among females; however, there was slower growth of males in 2003 in comparison to 1996. Growth (y) of female Apollo larvae as a function of instar duration (x) can by described by one common equation, irrespectively of the year: y = 317.6 + 502.3 lnx (± 263.3) (r = 0.82, P < 10⁻⁴).     

Experimental evidence for predation risk sensitive oviposition by a mosquito, Culiseta longiareolata

1. Females should choose to oviposit in habitats where risk of predation and competition are low. The ovipositional responses of a mosquito, Culiseta longiareolata, to a predator and to species sharing the same trophic level as this mosquito (controphic species) were assessed experimentally in outdoor artificial pools. 2. The predator, larval Anax imperator, which strongly reduced larval C. longiareolata survival, resulted in a 52% reduction of C. longiareolata egg rafts. The controphic species (primarily Daphnia magna), which had a small but statistically significant negative effect on the survival of C. longiareolata larvae, did not have a statistically significant influence on the number of egg rafts. 3. Laboratory trials indicated that only a small fraction of the reduced number of egg rafts seen in predator pools may be due to consumption of the egg rafts by A. imperator. 4. The experimental evidence indicates that the reduced number of C. longiareolata egg rafts found in the presence of A. imperator is due largely to oviposition habitat selection, i.e. C. longiareolata females choose pools with low risk of predation for their offspring.     

中国5种珍稀绢蝶非损伤性取样的mtDNA序列及系统进化

应用非损伤性取样DNA测序技术测定了4种来自云南白马雪山和1种来自新疆天山的5种珍稀绢蝶的线粒体DNA细胞色素b基因部分DNA序列。在获得的433bp的序列中,A＋T约占754％,其中40个核苷酸位点存在变异（约924％）。DNA一级序列数据显示,该5种绢蝶间DNA序列变异丰富。PAUP3.1.1（简约法）数据分析软件构建该5个种绢蝶的分子系统树显示,爱珂绢蝶（Parnassiusacco）和巴裔绢蝶（Parnassiusbaileyi）的亲缘关系比较接近,阿波罗绢蝶（Parnassiusapollo）、珍珠绢蝶（Parnassiusorlears）和西猴绢蝶（Parnassiussimo）3种绢蝶均为相对独立的一支,其中西猴绢蝶分化较早,与形态学研究结果相吻合。     

甘南地区小红珠绢蝶生物学特性研究初报

小红珠绢蝶Parnassius nomion Fischer von Waldheim在甘肃甘南1年发生1代。翌年5月上旬幼虫孵化,6月下旬开始化蛹,7月下旬至8月上旬,成虫开始羽化,8月中旬至9月上旬成虫开始产卵,该虫以卵越冬。     

Effects of temperature and elevation on habitat use by a rare mountain butterfly: implications for species responses to climate change

Abstract 1. The present study used the mountain specialist butterfly Parnassius apollo as a model system to investigate how climate change may alter habitat requirements for species at their warm range margins. 2. Larval habitat use was recorded in six P. apollo populations over a 700 m elevation gradient in the Sierra de Guadarrama (central Spain). Larvae used four potential host species (Sedum spp.) growing in open areas amongst shrubs. 3. Parnassius apollo host‐plant and habitat use changed as elevation increased: the primary host shifted from Sedum amplexicaule to Sedum brevifolium, and larvae selected more open microhabitats (increased bare ground and dead vegetation, reduced vegetation height and shrub cover), suggesting that hotter microhabitats are used in cooler environments. 4. Larval microhabitat selection was significantly related to ambient temperature. At temperatures lower than 27 °C, larvae occupied open microhabitats that were warmer than ambient temperature, versus more shaded microhabitats that were cooler than ambient conditions when temperature was higher than 27 °C. 5. Elevational changes in phenology influenced the temperatures experienced by larvae, and could affect local host‐plant favourability. 6. Habitat heterogeneity appears to play an important role in P. apollo larval thermoregulation, and may become increasingly important in buffering populations of this and other insect species against climatic variation.     

Reproductive asynchrony in natural butterfly populations and its consequences for female matelessness

1. Reproductive asynchrony, where individuals in a population are short-lived relative to the population-level reproductive period, has been identified recently as a theoretical mechanism of the Allee effect that could operate in diverse plant and insect species. The degree to which this effect impinges on the growth potential of natural populations is not yet well understood. 2. Building on previous models of reproductive timing, we develop a general framework that allows a detailed, quantitative examination of the reproductive potential lost to asynchrony in small natural populations. 3. Our framework includes a range of biologically plausible submodels that allow details of mating biology of different species to be incorporated into the basic reproductive timing model. 4. We tailor the parameter estimation methods of the full model (basic model plus mating biology submodels) to take full advantage of data from detailed field studies of two species of Parnassius butterflies whose mating status may be assessed easily in the field. 5. We demonstrate that for both species, a substantial portion of the female population (6.5-18.6%) is expected to die unmated. These analyses provide the first direct, quantitative evidence of female reproductive failure due to asynchrony in small natural populations, and suggest that reproductive asynchrony exerts a strong and largely unappreciated influence on the population dynamics of these butterflies and other species with similarly asynchronous reproductive phenology.     

The Effect of Metals on the Mortality of Parnassius Apollo Larvae (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

The population sizes and range of Parnassius apollo started to decline in Finland in the 1930s and resulted in complete extinction in many parts of its former range 30 years later. It has been suggested that metal pollution is one potentially very important reason for the decline. Recently, a recovery of P. apollo and widening of its range has started in the southwestern Finland, simultaneously with a decline in metal fallout from air. Metal analyses were performed with larval and host plant samples collected from an area where P. apollo is recolonising its former range (the archipelago between the island of Kemiö and the Hankoniemi peninsula). In the host plants (Sedum telephium), the level of Fe was significantly lower and the levels of Cd and Zn suggestively lower in the current range (n = 35) of P. apollo than in the former range (n = 12). Analyses on larvae of P. apollo (n = 29) showed lower levels of Cd, Fe and Mn than in the host plant leaves. The excretion of these metals, as well as Zn, via the faeces was effective. The level of the Cd-antagonist Cu was considerably higher in caterpillars than in the food. When caterpillars were fed with metal-polluted food from Helsinki city (4.35ppm Cd/dwt; n = 5) they died, whereas control individuals fed with food from the archipelago (2.49ppm Cd/dwt; n = 5) survived. These results indicate that metals may play an important role in the large-scale decline and partial recovery of P. apollo in the western Europe.     

西双版纳野生绿孔雀种群数量及分布现状调查

绿孔雀（Ｐａｖｏｍｕｔｉｃｕｓ）在世界共３个亚种,其中Ｐ．ｍｕｔｉｃｕｓｉｍｐｅｒａｔｏｒ主要分布于我国云南、缅甸东部、泰国和印度等地［１～３］。三十多年前,在西双版纳的大部分地区均有该种的分布,是有名的“孔雀之乡”［４］。随着人类经济活动的影响,云...     

Survival, movement, and resource use of the butterfly Parnassius clodius

Abstract.  1. A mark–recapture study was conducted on the American Apollo butterfly Parnassius clodius Menetries during three field seasons (1998–2000) to examine its movement patterns over the course of a season within a sagebrush meadow in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, U.S.A. The study examined how resources affected butterfly distribution patterns and used mark–recapture data to gain insight into movement differences between sexes and over time.
2. The average straight-line movement of P. clodius was 202 m day⁻¹, adjusted for sampling effort at different distances. Movement estimates in all 3 years were highly correlated with the average distance between plots sampled.
3. Butterfly abundance was correlated positively with per cent cover of its host plant Dicentra uniflora , but this relationship decreased in importance during the peak of the flight period when individuals may be more interested in finding mates. There was a weak, positive correlation between butterfly abundance and the abundance of its primary nectar source, Eriogonum umbellatum in 1999, but no relationship in 2000.
4. Survival, recapture, and transition probabilities were estimated using open population, capture–recapture models. Survival and recapture probability decreased over the course of each season, while the probability of moving between plots increased. Recapture probability was significantly lower for females than for males among all 3 years, but there was no difference between the sexes in survival rate.     

The importance of biotic interactions for modelling species distributions under climate change

Aim There is a debate as to whether biotic interactions exert a dominant role in governing species distributions at macroecological scales. The prevailing idea is that climate is the key limiting factor; thus models that use present‐day climate–species range relationships are expected to provide reasonable means to quantify the impacts of climate change on species distributions. However, there is little empirical evidence that biotic interactions would not constrain species distributions at macroecological scales. We examine this idea, for the first time, and provide tests for two null hypotheses: (H₀ 1) – biotic interactions do not exert a significant role in explaining current distributions of a particular species of butterfly (clouded Apollo, Parnassius mnemosyne) in Europe; and (H₀ 2) – biotic interactions do not exert a significant role in predictions of altered species’ ranges under climate change. Location Europe. Methods Generalized additive modelling (GAM) was used to investigate relationships between species and climate; species and host plants; and species and climate + host plants. Because models are sensitive to the variable selection strategies utilised, four alternative approaches were used: AIC (Akaike's Information Criterion), BIC (Bayesian Information Criterion), BRUTO (Adaptive Backfitting), and CROSS (Cross Selection). Results In spite of the variation in the variables selected with different methods, both hypotheses (H₀ 1 and H₀ 2) were falsified, providing support for the proposition that biotic interactions significantly affect both the explanatory and predictive power of bioclimatic envelope models at macro scales. Main conclusions Our results contradict the widely held view that the effects of biotic interactions on individual species distributions are not discernible at macroecological scales. Results are contingent on the species, type of interaction and methods considered, but they call for more stringent evidence in support of the idea that purely climate‐based modelling would be sufficient to quantify the impacts of climate change on species distributions.