Inferring the Provenance of an Alien Species with DNA Barcodes: The Neotropical Butterfly Dryas iulia in Thailand

The Neotropical butterfly Dryas iulia has been collected from several locations in Thailand and Malaysia since 2007, and has been observed breeding in the wild, using introduced Passiflora foetida as a larval host plant. The butterfly is bred by a butterfly house in Phuket, Thailand, for release at weddings and Buddhist ceremonies, and we hypothesized that this butterfly house was the source of wild, Thai individuals. We compared wing patterns and COI barcodes from two, wild Thai populations with individuals obtained from this butterfly house. All Thai individuals resemble the subspecies D. iulia modesta, and barcodes from wild and captive Thai specimens were identical. This unique, Thai barcode was not found in any of the 30 specimens sampled from the wild in the species\u27 native range, but is most similar to specimens from Costa Rica, where many exporting butterfly farms are located. These data implicate the butterfly house as the source of Thailand\u27s wild D. iulia populations, which are currently so widespread that eradication efforts are unlikely to be successful

Insect assemblages attacking seeds and fruits in a rainforest in Thailand

Insect seed predators are important agents of mortality for tropical trees, but little is known about the impact of these herbivores in rainforests. During three years at Khao Chong (KHC) in southern Thailand we reared 17,555 insects from 343.2 kg or 39,252 seeds/fruits representing 357 liana and tree species. A commented list of the 243 insect species identified is provided, with details about their host plants. We observed that: (1) about 43% of identified species can be considered pests. Most were seed eaters, particularly on dry fruits. (2) About 19% of parasitoid species (all Opiinae) for which we could determine whether their primary insect host was a pest or not (all Bactrocera spp. breeding in fruits) can be considered beneficials. (3) The seeds/fruits of about 28% of the plant species in this forest were free of attack. Phyllanthaceae, Rubiaceae, and Meliaceae were attacked relatively infrequently; in contrast, Annonaceae, Fabaceae, Sapindaceae, and Myristicaceae were more heavily attacked. There was no apparent effect of plant phylogeny on rates of attack but heavily attacked tree species had larger basal area in the KHC plot than rarely attacked tree species. (4) Insects reared from fleshy fruits were more likely to exhibit relatively stable populations compared to insects reared from dry fruits, but this was not true of insects reared from dipterocarps, which appeared to have relatively stable populations throughout the study period. We tentatively conclude that insects feeding on seeds and fruits have little effect on observed levels of host abundance in this forest

Larval juice anyone? The unusual behaviour and morphology of an ant nest beetle larva (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussini) from Thailand

The third instar larva of Paussus siamensis Maruyama, 2016 (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Paussini) from Thailand, belonging to the Paussus hystrix group (sensu Maruyama, 2016), is described and illustrated by using both light and scanning electron (SEM) microscopy. Unlike other Paussus larvae, this larva was found inside a self-dug hole, in a nest of Pheidole plagiaria ants. Behavioural observations, documented by pictures taken in the field, show a peculiar strategy of P. siamensis larva to exudate big drops of transparent liquid from the thorax, promptly sucked by worker host ants. Behaviour of Paussus larvae is still unknown, but, due to their structural homogeneity, we suspect that digging and supplying attractive substances can be widespread within this genus. The similarity between P. siamensis and P. kannegieteri larvae, both Indo-Malayan species and guests of the same ant, is in agreement with their recent placement in the subgenus Scaphipaussus Fowler (sensu Robertson & Moore, 2016)

Inferring the Provenance of an Alien Species with DNA Barcodes: The Neotropical Butterfly <i>Dryas iulia</i> in Thailand

<div><p>The Neotropical butterfly <i>Dryas iulia</i> has been collected from several locations in Thailand and Malaysia since 2007, and has been observed breeding in the wild, using introduced <i>Passiflora foetida</i> as a larval host plant. The butterfly is bred by a butterfly house in Phuket, Thailand, for release at weddings and Buddhist ceremonies, and we hypothesized that this butterfly house was the source of wild, Thai individuals. We compared wing patterns and COI barcodes from two, wild Thai populations with individuals obtained from this butterfly house. All Thai individuals resemble the subspecies <i>D. iulia modesta</i>, and barcodes from wild and captive Thai specimens were identical. This unique, Thai barcode was not found in any of the 30 specimens sampled from the wild in the species' native range, but is most similar to specimens from Costa Rica, where many exporting butterfly farms are located. These data implicate the butterfly house as the source of Thailand's wild <i>D. iulia</i> populations, which are currently so widespread that eradication efforts are unlikely to be successful.</p></div

“Berlese vs. Winkler”: Comparison of Two Forest Litter Coleoptera Extraction Methods and the Ecoli (Extraction of Coleoptera in Litter) Protocol

We present results of a comparison between the Winkler (Moczarski) eclector and the Berlese-Tullgren funnel methods for extracting forest litter-dwelling Coleoptera from sifted substrates, with a focus on relevance for taxonomic studies. A review of the history and methodologies of leaf litter arthropod extraction is provided. Repeated, timed trials were performed to compare the relative effectiveness of the two methods using litter samples from various sites across the southern United States. Extraction rates for Winkler and Berlese funnels were evaluated based on temporal and taxonomic criteria by comparing accumulations of Coleoptera specimens and species at timed intervals. In addition, Curculionidae, Staphylinidae, and rare species were targeted and evaluated separately. No clear differences in extraction efficiency, either temporally or taxonomically, between Winklers and Berleses were detected. But contrary to current extraction practices, extraction patterns for both Winklers and Berleses suggested that intervals at the beginning of trials (3-24 hrs) and later in the trials (60-144 hrs) are most productive. The typical 24-48-hr run duration currently used in most studies fails to recover a substantial fraction of the total abundance contained in samples. An extraction protocol for litter-dwelling Coleoptera is suggested based on these results

Relationships among <i>Dryas iulia</i> showing that wild-caught, Thai specimens have identical barcodes with specimens from the Phuket Butterfly Garden and no other samples collected in Central America and the Caribbean.

<p>a) Most parsimonious haplotype network of <i>D. iulia</i> constructed with 95% connection limit. The size of each circle is proportional to the number of specimens sharing that haplotype; the smallest circles represent a single haplotype and the largest, sixteen. The colors of the pie charts indicate proportional representation of the provenance of samples with that haplotype. Separation by a line indicates a single base pair difference between haplotypes; crosses represent haplotypes that would be 1 bp different than adjacent haplotypes, but were not sampled in this study. b) maximum likelihood bootstrap consensus tree of COI haplotypes from <i>D. iulia</i> and one outgroup. Codes refer to GenBank Accession Numbers and colors denote provenance of specimen collection. Numbers near selected nodes indicate refer to the following branch support values (maximum likelihood bootstrap support, Bayes posterior probability, parsimony bootstrap support, respectively):  = 40, –, –;  = 27, 0.62, –;  = 20, –, –;  = 27, 0.75, –;  = 31, 0.98, –;  = 26, 0.69, –;  = 100, 1, 100;  = 100, 1, 100.</p

Specimen information for sequences included in this analysis.

<p>Specimen information for sequences included in this analysis.</p

Collection localities of <i>Dryas iulia</i> butterflies on the Thai-Malay peninsula (unpublished data) [6], [7].

<p>Orange butterfly symbols indicate localities from which we sampled specimens for this study; black symbols indicate unsampled localities from which the species has been recorded. The image illustrates the wings of specimen DL-08-T033 caught on Phi Phi Don Island, Krabi Province, Thailand.</p