Phylogeography of Parnassius apollo: hints on taxonomy and conservation of a vulnerable glacial butterfly invader

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:2010
Journal:Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
Volume:101
Start Page:169
Keywords:butterflies – mtDNA – Pleistocene.
Abstract:

Parnassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758) is probably the most renowned Eurasian montane butterfly. Its specialized
ecology makes it very sensitive to habitat and climate changes, so that it is now experiencing range contraction
and local extinction across most of its range. We sequenced 869 bp of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cytochrome
oxidase I gene in 78 P. apollo populations (201 individuals) in order to: (1) assess the phylogeographic pattern of
the species; (2) shed light on the historical biogeographic processes that shaped the distribution of the species; and
(3) identify geographic population units of special value for the conservation of the species’ genetic diversity. Our
analyses revealed a very strong phylogeographic structure in P. apollo, which displays a number of distinctive
mtDNA lineages populating geographically distinct areas. Overall sequence divergence is relatively shallow, and
is consistent with a recent (late Pleistocene) colonization of most of the range. We propose that P. apollo is best
viewed as an atypical glacial invader in southern and western Europe, the isolated, montane populations of which,
threatened by climate warming, retain a large fraction of the species evolutionary heritage

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith