Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellites in Parnassius apollo and Euphydryas aurinia (Lepidoptera)

Microsatellite loci were developed from Parnassius apollo and Euphydryas aurinia, two endangered Palaearctic butterfly species. Respectively, six and five polymorphic loci were characterized from an enriched partial genomic library. Genetic diversity range from three to 25 alleles for the first species and from seven to 21 for the second. Although the presence of null alleles is suspected, these polymorphic loci are likely to provide important information on the fine scale genetic structure among populations of these species.