Diverticula in Male Lycorea halia Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Danaini: Itunina)-Support Organs for Everted Hairpencils with Unique Ultrastructure.

The involvement of the diverticula, a synapomorphy for Itunina, in protrusion and expansion of hairpencils by male Lycorea halia (Hübner, 1816) is demonstrated for the first time. They facilitate maintaining the haemolymph pressure necessary to keep the hairpencils everted. The diverticula are curved hook-like lobes, open to the body cavity and densely filled with tracheae and threads made by units of two staggered cells surrounding a central extracellular fibril bundle. Such complex structures, apparently metabolically active, have not been reported for insects previously and might indicate additional functions, but their functional role(s) remains a puzzle. When a male emerges from pupa, the diverticula are not yet formed; this happens only during the first protrusion of the hairpencils.

Phylogenetics and divergence times of Papilioninae (Lepidoptera) with special reference to the enigmatic genera Teinopalpus and Meandrusa.

© The Willi Hennig Society 2010. ABSTRACT: Phylogenetic relationships of 18 genera of the swallowtail subfamily Papilioninae, four genera of Parnassiinae, and the monobasic Baroniinae are inferred based on 94 morphological characters and 5616 bp DNA from seven genes (16S, COI, COII, ND1, ND5, EF-1 alpha and wingless). Bayesian likelihood analyses show that Baroniinae are the sister of a clade comprising Parnassiinae and Papilioninae. Four Papilioninae tribes are recognized, Leptocircini, Teinopalpini, Papilionini and Troidini, with Leptocircini being the sister of the remaining tribes. Meandrusa and Teinopalpus are sister taxa and comprise the tribe Teinopalpini, which is the sister of a clade comprising Papilionini and Troidini. The tribe Troidini (pipevine swallowtails) comprises two subtribes: Battina (including only Battus) and Troidina. The endemic Madagascan genus Pharmacophagus is consistently placed as the sister to the remaining Troidina. The non-Pharmacophagus Troidina are tentatively divided into a Neotropical lineage and an Australasian lineage. Dispersal-vicariance analyses indicate that past dispersal events are most important for explaining current distribution patterns of Papilionidae. However, the division of the non-Pharmacophagus Troidina into a Neotropical lineage and an Australasian lineage is possibly due to the final break-up of southern Gondwana. A fossil-calibrated relaxed Bayesian molecular clock analysis confirms that the ages of the lineages fit this scenario. The basal lineages leading to the current subfamily-level diversity of Papilionidae probably arose around the K/T boundary. Analyses of larval host-plant relationships within Papilionidae show very little phylogenetic pattern. However, Aristolochiaceae-feeding apparently evolved independently in non-Parnassiini parnassiines and Troidini.

Examining monophyly in a large radiation of Madagascan butterflies (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae: Mycalesina) based on mitochondrial DNA data.

The satyrine butterfly subtribe Mycalesina has undergone one of the more spectacular evolutionary radiations of butterflies in the Old World tropics. Perhaps the most phenotypically pronounced diversification of the group has occurred in the Malagasy region, where 68 currently recognized species are divided among five genera. Here, we report the results of phylogenetic analyses of sequence data from the cytochrome c oxidase II and cytochrome b mitochondrial genes, for a total of 54 mycalesine taxa, mostly from Madagascar. These molecular data complement an existing data set based on male morphological characters. The molecular results support the suggestion from morphology that three of the five Malagasy genera are paraphyletic and support the monophyly of at least three major morphological clades. Novel hypotheses of terminal taxon pairs are generated by the molecular data. Dense taxon sampling appears to be crucial for elucidating phylogenetic relationships within this large radiation. A potentially complex scenario for the origin of Malagasy mycalesines is proposed.

Beyond opportunism: Key principles for systematic reserve selection.

The intention and practice of conservation reserve selection are different. A major reason for systems of reserves is to sustain biological diversity. This involves protecting examples of as many natural features, e.g. species, communities or environments, as possible. In reality, however, new reserves have rarely been dedicated for their representation of features. Furthermore, the opportunism that has characterized the development of reserve systems can actually jeopardize the representation of all features in reserves through the inefficient allocation of limited resources. More systematic approaches are essential if reserves are to play their role in protecting biodiversity. Some basic principles for conservation planning are emerging from recent systematic procedures for reserve selection. These principles will help to link intention and practice.

THE CLADISTICS OF AMAURIS BUTTERFLIES: CONGRUENCE, CONSENSUS AND TOTAL EVIDENCE.

Abstract- Two data sets for 10 species of African milkweed butterflies (Nymphalidae, Danainae: one Danaus, two Tirumala, seven Amauris) have been analysed cladistically, separately and in combination. One data set comprised 32 morphological characters, the other comprised 68 chemical compounds from male scent organs. Analysed separately, the two data sets produced six similar but non-identical minimum-length solutions. Analysed together, the combined data set of 100 characters produced a single minimum-length tree, identical to one of the three solutions for the morphological data set. The combined data produced a more informative result than congruence comparisons based on strict or combinable component consensus analysis. These results, together with re-analysis of a morphological data set for all 15 species of Amauris (which produced 12 minimum-length solutions), permit increased resolution of the existing classification of this Afrotropical genus, including the formal recognition of two subgenera, Amauris (Amauris) Hübner, and Amauris (Amaura) Geyer (stat. rev.). The fit of uniquely derived, unreversed chemical characters to the tree raises the possibility that stepwise additive evolution of semiochemicals may have occurred during cladogenesis of these mimetic butterflies. The implications for chemoecology and speciation are briefly discussed.

THE CLADISTICS OF IDEAS (LEPIDOPTERA, DANAINAE).

Abstract- Males of Idea tambusisiana, previously unstudied, lack the only known unequivocal synapomorphy associating the constituent members of Idea. Further cladistic analyses were performed on an expanded data matrix containing two characters alternatively coded in binary and multistate form. Two topologies were obtained of which one, in which I. tambusisiana remains internal to the genus, is accepted following consideration of information content and assessment of the supporting character states. A character analysis is also performed in which the problem of ambiguous charater state assignments to the internal nodes of the cladogram is examined. Biogeographic implications of the results are discussed with respect to areas of endemism in southeast Asia, the origin of Sulawesi (Celebes), and vicariance/dispersal models intended to explain the distribution of Idea species in relation to the Makassar Strait.