Foraging Behavior of the Blue Morpho and Other Tropical Butterflies: The Chemical and Electrophysiological Basis of Olfactory Preferences and the Role of Color

Inside a live butterfly exhibit, we conducted bioassays to determine whether the presence of color would facilitate the location of attractants by the butterflies. It was found that color facilitated odor attraction in some species that feed on flowers (Parthenos silvia, Heraclides thoas, Dryas julia, and Idea leuconoe), but not in the exclusively fruit-feeding species, such as Morpho helenor, hence demonstrating that species with different natural diets use different foraging cues. Green, ripe, and fermented bananas were evaluated for their attractiveness to butterflies together with honey and mangoes. The fermented bananas were determined to be the most attractive bait, and the electrophysiological responses to their volatiles were studied in Morpho helenor and Caligo telamonius. During GC-EAD evaluation, fifteen different aliphatic esters, such as isobutyl isobutyrate, butyl acetate, ethyl butanoate, and butyl butanoate (both fermentation products and fruit semiochemicals) were shown to be detected by the butterflies’ sensory apparatus located in the forelegs, midlegs, proboscis, labial palpi, and antennae. Legs, proboscis, and antennae of Morpho helenor and Caligo telamonius showed similar sensitivity, reacting to 11 chemicals, while labial palpi had a lower signal-to-noise ratio and responded to seven chemicals, only three of which produced responses in other organs

On speciation and hybridization among closely related species: establishing an experimental breeding lineage between two species of \u3ci\u3eAutomeris\u3c/i\u3e Hübner moths (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) and implications for taxonomy

Many species of plants and a few species of animals are believed to have resulted from hybridization of parental species, and the ability of species to occasionally hybridize in captivity and in nature is even more widespread. In the present study, we describe a hybridization experiment conducted in the laboratory between the sexually dimorphic Automeris io (Fabricius), a widespread, variable species ranging from Canada to Costa Rica, and its congener A. louisiana (Ferguson and Brou), a more local, sexually monomorphic species (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). The A. louisiana populations occur in a highly specialized habitat—the coastal marshland along the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana and Texas and is nested inside the broad distribution of A. io, demonstrating strong differences from the latter in its ecology and morphology. No natural hybridization between the two species has been described. While the separate species status of A. io and A. louisiana is supported by morphology and ecology of their populations, we were able to create a hybrid lineage in the laboratory and maintained it for three generations. The hybrids were phenotypically intermediate between the parental species. Under a stricter reading of the biological species concept, such an ability to hybridize would be interpreted by some as a sign of conspecificity. Our experiments once again demonstrate the complexity of ‘species’ as a concept, which may need major redefinition in the popular interpretation of sciences

Causes of endemic radiation in the Caribbean: evidence from the historical biogeography and diversification of the butterfly genus Calisto(Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini)

BACKGROUND: Calisto is the largest butterfly genus in the West Indies but its systematics, historical biogeography and the causes of its diversification have not been previously rigorously evaluated. Several studies attempting to explain the wide-ranging diversity of Calisto gave different weights to vicariance, dispersal and adaptive radiation. We utilized molecular phylogenetic approaches and secondary calibrations points to estimate lineage ages. In addition, we used the dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis model and Caribbean paleogeographical information to reconstruct ancestral geographical distributions. We also evaluated different models of diversification to estimate the dynamics of lineage radiation within Calisto. By understanding the evolution of Calisto butterflies, we attempt to identify the main processes acting on insular insect diversity and the causes of its origin and its maintenance. RESULTS: The crown age of Calisto was estimated to the early Oligocene (31 ± 5 Ma), and a single shift in diversification rate following a diversity-dependent speciation process was the best explanation for the present-day diversity found within the genus. A major increase in diversification rate was recovered at 14 Ma, following geological arrangements that favoured the availability of empty niches. Inferred ancestral distributional ranges suggested that the origin of extant Calisto is in agreement with a vicariant model and the origin of the Cuban lineage was likely the result of vicariance caused by the Cuba-Hispaniola split. A long-distance dispersal was the best explanation for the colonization of Jamaica and the Bahamas. CONCLUSIONS: The ancestral geographical distribution of Calisto is in line with the paleogeographical model of Caribbean colonization, which favours island-to-island vicariance. Because the sister lineage of Calisto remains ambiguous, its arrival to the West Indies remains to be explained, although, given its age and historical biogeography, the hypothesized GAARlandia land bridge might have been a plausible introduction route from continental America. Intra-island radiation caused by ecological innovation and the abiotic creation of niche spaces was found to be the main force shaping Calisto diversity and island endemism in Hispaniola and Cuba. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-014-0199-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

A global phylogeny of butterflies reveals their evolutionary history, ancestral hosts and biogeographic origins

Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to have evolved with plants and dispersed throughout the world in response to key geological events. However, these hypotheses have not been extensively tested because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and datasets for butterfly larval hosts and global distributions are lacking. We sequenced 391 genes from nearly 2,300 butterfly species, sampled from 90 countries and 28 specimen collections, to reconstruct a new phylogenomic tree of butterflies representing 92% of all genera. Our phylogeny has strong support for nearly all nodes and demonstrates that at least 36 butterfly tribes require reclassification. Divergence time analyses imply an origin similar to 100 million years ago for butterflies and indicate that all but one family were present before the K/Pg extinction event. We aggregated larval host datasets and global distribution records and found that butterflies are likely to have first fed on Fabaceae and originated in what is now the Americas. Soon after the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum, butterflies crossed Beringia and diversified in the Palaeotropics. Our results also reveal that most butterfly species are specialists that feed on only one larval host plant family. However, generalist butterflies that consume two or more plant families usually feed on closely related plants

Figure 3 in You are what you eat: native versus exotic Crotalaria species (Fabaceae) as host plants of the Ornate Bella Moth, Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

Figure 3. Rates of development of Utetheisa ornatrix larvae on different species of native and exotic Crotalaria in Florida and effect of leaves versus beans in the diet (see text for details): (A) partial development of larvae on the native C. rotundifolia versus exotic C. lanceolata; (B, C) partial development of larvae on the native C. pumila versus exotic C. lanceolata; (D, E) development of larvae on the exotic C. spectabilis/retusa versus exotic C. lanceolata; (F) development of larvae on C. incana (native to U. ornatrix range in the Neotropics, but introduced to Florida) versus exotic C. lanceolata. (F – based on data from Sourakov and Locascio 2013).Published as part of Sourakov, Andrei, 2015, You are what you eat: native versus exotic Crotalaria species (Fabaceae) as host plants of the Ornate Bella Moth, Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae), pp. 2397-2415 in Journal of Natural History 49 (39) on page 2401, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2015.1006700, http://zenodo.org/record/400015

Figure 5 in You are what you eat: native versus exotic Crotalaria species (Fabaceae) as host plants of the Ornate Bella Moth, Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

Figure 5. Utetheisa ornatrix raised on leaves versus beans of two Crotalaria species: (A) rates of development of the last instar raised on beans versus leaves of C. lanceolata; (B) rates of larval development on beans versus leaves of C. pallida; (C) pupal weight of moths raised on beans versus leaves of C. pallida. (B and C – based on data from Ferro et al. 2006).Published as part of Sourakov, Andrei, 2015, You are what you eat: native versus exotic Crotalaria species (Fabaceae) as host plants of the Ornate Bella Moth, Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae), pp. 2397-2415 in Journal of Natural History 49 (39) on page 2407, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2015.1006700, http://zenodo.org/record/400015

F1000-2018-Sourakov

Data and images accompanying Sourakov, A. 2018. F1000Researc

You are what you eat: native versus exotic Crotalaria species (Fabaceae) as host plants of the Ornate Bella Moth, Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

Sourakov, Andrei (2015): You are what you eat: native versus exotic Crotalaria species (Fabaceae) as host plants of the Ornate Bella Moth, Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae). Journal of Natural History 49 (39): 2397-2415, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2015.100670