Red & black or black & white? Phylogeny of the Araschnia butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) and evolution of seasonal polyphenism

Phylogeny of the butterfly genera Araschnia, Mynes, Symbrenthia and Brensymthia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Nymphalini) is reconstructed, based on 140 morphological and ecological characters. The resulting tree shows that Araschnia is a sister group of the clade including Symbrenthia, Mynes and Brens...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of evolutionary biology 2004-03, Vol.17 (2), p.265-278
Main Authors: Fric, Z., Konvicka, M., Zrzavy, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Araschnia
biogeography
Butterflies - anatomy & histology
Butterflies - genetics
Butterflies - physiology
butterfly wing pattern
cladistics
dispersal
Geography
Nymphalidae
Palaearctic region
Phylogeny
Pigmentation - genetics
Pigmentation - physiology
polyphenism
Seasons
Species Specificity
vicariance
Wings, Animal - anatomy & histology
Wings, Animal - physiology
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Summary:Phylogeny of the butterfly genera Araschnia, Mynes, Symbrenthia and Brensymthia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Nymphalini) is reconstructed, based on 140 morphological and ecological characters. The resulting tree shows that Araschnia is a sister group of the clade including Symbrenthia, Mynes and Brensymthia (Symbrenthia is paraphyletic in the respect of remaining genera; Symbrenthia hippalus is a derived species of Mynes). The species‐level relationships within Araschnia are robustly supported as follows: (A. davidis (prorsoides ((zhangi doris) (dohertyi (levana burejana))). Analysis of the wing colour‐pattern characters linked with the seasonal polyphenism in the Araschnia species suggests that the black and white coloration of the long‐day (summer) generation is apomorphic. Biogeographically, the origin of polyphenism in Araschnia predates the dispersal of some Araschnia species towards the Palaearctic temperate zone, and the ecological cause of the polyphenism itself is then probably not linked with thermoregulation. The possible mimetic/cryptic scenarios for the origin of Araschnia polyphenism are discussed.
ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
DOI:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2003.00681.x