The intraspecific structure of the Yellow-spotted ringlet Erebia manto (Denis & Schiffermüller, [1775]), with special reference to the bubastis group: an integration of morphology, allozyme and mtDNA data (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae)

Abstract

Abstract. Present-day intraspecific diversity has largely been shaped by previous climatic events, but the spatial and temporal scales of differentiation processes in most species remain to be clarified. In Europe, the Pleistocene glacial cycles have generated population structures that remain especially evident in montane taxa. The intraspecific variation of the European subalpine Yellow-spotted Ringlet, Erebia manto (Denis & Schiffermüller, [1775]), shows a hierarchical, two-level structure that allows us to study intermediate stages of speciation. Morphologically, three subspecies clusters have been described in this butterfly: the manto, bubastis and vogesiaca type. An allozyme study previously revealed two genetic lineages within the manto type, and two within the vogesiaca type, but lacked bubastis representatives. To further our knowledge of the intraspecific structure of E. manto, we sampled all known and presumed intraspecific groups and sequenced 1,496 base pairs of the mitochondrial gene COI for 152 specimens from 15 localities. A median joining haplotype network, based on 40 parsimony informative sites, confirmed the four allozyme based lineages. The bubastis type was acknowledged as a fifth genetic lineage, replacing the manto type populations in the southern part of the western Alps, and separated from it by a well-known zoogeographic borderline. We discuss how the present-day distributions, genetic relationships and timing of the differentiations align.

Large‐ and small‐scale geographic structures affecting genetic patterns across populations of an Alpine butterfly

“…Our study shows that this applies also to smaller spatial scales within mountain ranges. Likewise, large rivers such as Danube, Isère, Rhine, and Rhone are known to affect large‐scale genetic patterns, indicated by genetic differentiation of insect populations from either side of rivers (Cupedo & Doorenweerd, 2020; Mardulyn, 2001; Schmitt et al., 2007). However, smaller rivers were not found to comprise a barrier for L. t. subalpinus in one Austrian valley (Trense et al., 2021).…”

Mitochondrial DNA-based phylogeography of the large ringlet Erebia euryale (Esper, 1805) suggests recurrent Alpine-Carpathian disjunctions during Pleistocene (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae)

“…It underwent a broad diversification into some dozens of species during Miocene and Pliocene (Martin et al 2000;Peña et al 2015;Wiemers et al 2020), followed by a fast radiation caused by the Pleistocene glacial cycles. These most recent differentiations as a rule were intraspecific (Vila et al 2005;Schmitt et al 2006;Schmitt et al 2014;Hinojosa et al 2018;Cupedo and Doorenweerd 2020), and in a few cases on species level (Martin et al 2002;Albre et al 2008;Wiemers et al 2020). The large ringlet, Erebia euryale (Esper, 1805) is one of the most widespread and most variable species of the genus, with sixteen morphological subspecies described (Cupedo 2010).…”

“…1). Its distribution area stretches between two known biogeographical borders (Cupedo and Doorenweerd 2020): the Isère valley in the west and the Valtellina (the Adda valley) in the east, suggesting survival in refugium (i) and in the western compartments of refugium (iii).…”

“…In order to obtain one dataset covering all recognized and potential lineages, we extended previously published mtDNA data (Dincă et al 2010;Vila et al 2011;Paučulová et al 2017) with 15 Alpine populations and a Jurassian one. We sequenced both the 5'P section of the Cytochrome C Oxidase I gene (the "barcode section"), and the 3'P part, which has proven to be more informative in some Erebia species (Vila et al 2005;Vila et al 2011), although not all of them (Cupedo and Doorenweerd 2020). The aim of our study is to identify the mtDNA based genetic lineages of E. euryale in the Alps, to establish their relation to morphologic subspecies, to clarify their phylogenetic relations and their connections with the Jura, Pyrenees (including Cantabria), the Carpathians and the Sudetes, and to reconstruct their phylogeographic history.…”