Monitoring climate changes and habitat degradation in threatened species without negative impact to the populations can pose a considerable challenge. A rare chance to test the morphological response of wing shape and size to environmental factors on the mountain Apollo (Parnassius apollo) collected from 1938 to 1968 at a single location – Strečno mountain pass, N Slovakia presented itself in a historical collection. The canonical variate analysis showed a significant shift from a narrower to broader forewing, with more extremes in either extra broad or narrow forewings in the post- 1960 population. Analysis of existing data was conducted to determine the possible factors affecting this change. Generally, the comparative statistics of temperature and precipitation to morphology of individuals and their fluctuating asymmetry showed no, or weak, correlations. Two extreme weather events (ECEs), identified using the historical weather data, show no correlation of wing morphology to these events. Although no strong correlations can be drawn in case of the available weather data and morphology, the results of this study can be connected to strong anthropogenic effects of a large-scale road development project taking place in the vicinity of the collection site starting in November 1959 causing changes in the available habitat and therefore a shift in the wing morphology.
Fedor P., Sigmund J., Zvaríková M., Masarovič R., Štefánik M., Krumpál M., Litavský J., Prokop P. (2018): The most northern record of the alien composite thrips Microcephalothrips abdominalis in Europe -short communication. Plant Protect. Sci., 54: 43-47.
Masarovič R., Štefánik M., Zvaríková M., Sigmund J., Fedor P. (2017): First record of a new alien economically important thrips Dichromothrips corbetti (Priesner, 1936) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in Slovakia -short communication. Plant Protect. Sci., 53: 177-180.The first record of vanda thrips (Dichromothrips corbetti [Priesner, 1936], Thysanoptera, Thripidae) in Slovakia is presented. An economically important pest with heavy infestations on flowers of Phalaenopsis orchids was recorded as introduced most probably from North African plantations. Potential infiltration of this exotic species into Central European glasshouses refers to the globalisation of trade in biological commodities.
After the first record of the banded greenhouse thrips, Hercinothrips femoralis (Reuter, 1891) in Slovakia in 2008, a peculiar occurrence in an extreme subalpine environment of Podbanské (High Tatra Mts.), Slovakia, during the summer of the same year was observed. Since this species of exotic thrips is known to be almost sedentary, the mode of dispersal was hypothesized to be related to passive transport via weather currents. According to our observations of unintentional dispersal a test was conducted to research a previously unidentified introduction pathway of this species. Our preliminary results show that passive transport by humans plays a crucial role in the dispersal of H. femoralis.
Drivers of evolution are often related to geographical isolation and/or diverging environmental conditions. Spatial variation in neutral genetic markers mostly reflects past geographical isolation, i.e. long-lasting allopatry, whereas morphology is often driven by local environmental conditions, resulting in more rapid evolution. In Europe, most thermophilic species persisted during the past glacial periods in geographically disjunct refugia, representing long-lasting isolates, frequently with diverging environmental conditions. This situation has driven the evolution of intraspecific signatures in species. Here, we analysed wing shape and wing pigmentation of the chalk-hill blue butterfly, Polyommatus coridon, across its entire distribution range restricted to the western Palaearctic. In addition, we compiled abiotic environmental parameters for each sampling site. Wing colour patterns differentiated a western and an eastern lineage. These lineages might represent two main Pleistocene refugia and differentiation centres, one located on the Italian Peninsula and the other in the Balkan region. The two lineages showed evidence of hybridization across Central Europe, from the Alps and across Germany. The intraspecific differentiation was strongest in the width of the brown band on the outer margin of the wings. The morphological structures obtained are in line with genetic signatures found in previous studies, but the latter are more fine-grained. Current environmental conditions, such as mean temperatures, were only marginally correlated with colour patterns. Our study underlines that Pleistocene range shifts, often resulting in allopatric isolation, shape intraspecific phenotypic structures within species; that pigmentation responds in a more sensitive manner to spatial disjunction than wing shape; and that morphometric and genetic structures in P. coridon provide concordant patterns and thus support identical biogeographical conclusions.
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