Altitudinal Distribution of Papilionidae Butterflies along with Their Larval Food Plants in the East Himalayan Landscape of West Bengal, India

The altitudinal distribution of Papilionidae butterflies across the East Himalayan Landscape of West Bengal, India is presented here. 26 butterfly species are known to occur across 11 altitudinal belts. Species Richness (R) and Species Diversity (H′) are said to be highest between 1200 - 1400 masl (meters above sea level). In contrast, lowest values of Species Richness and Species Diversity occur at the highest altitude of 3000 masl and above. Maximum number of individuals occurs between 900 - 1100 masl while the minimum number of individuals was present at the highest altitude of 3000 masl or above. 35 species of plants belonging to 6 families served as the larval food plant of these butterflies. Thus the presence of suitable larval host plants probably governs the altitudinal distribution of these papilionid species of butterflies. 30.77% of butterfly species are strictly monophagous in nature.

尾凤蝶属昆虫研究概况

对尾凤蝶属(Bhutanitis)昆虫的研究主要集中在形态描述和分类方面,其次是生物学特性研究,仅有少数涉及到分子生物学和保护生物学等方面。分子生物学和保护生物学研究将是今后该属昆虫的研究重点。

Biology and distribution of butterfly fauna of Hazara University, Garden Campus, Mansehra, Pakistan

The butterflies are beautiful creature of nature with great economic importance as pollinator as well as bio-indicator of environments. The present survey was conducted to determine the biology and distribution of butterfly fauna of Hazara University, Garden Campus, Mansehra, Pakistan during March-June 2012. The study area was divided into 3 quadrates, i.e., residential area, administration area and main campus. A total of 170 specimens were collected, 10 species were identified belonging to 3 different families and falling in 8 genera. The species were identified. The painted lady, Cynthia cardui (Linnaeus);blue pansy, Junonia orithya Linnaeus;and plain tiger, Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus) were belonging to family Nymphalidae. The lime butterfly, Papilio demoleus Linnaeus and com-mon mormon, P. polytes Linnaeus were belonging to family Papilionidae. The dark clouded yellow, Colias croceus (Geoffroy);common grass yellow, Eumera hecab (Linnaeus);Murree green-veined white, Pieris ajaka Moore;green-veined white, P. napi (Linnaeus) and Bath white, Pontia daplidice (Linnaeus) were belonging to family Pieridae. The body sizes of E. hecabe and J. orithya were minimum, i.e., 1.4 cm (n = 4 - 13), however, D. chrysippus was maximum, i.e., 2.5 cm (n = 1). The wingspan of E. hecabe was minimum, i.e., 3.7 cm (n = 4), however, P. polytes was maximum, i.e., 7.5 cm (n = 1). Proper preventive measures should be taken into consideration in order to minimize the natural habitat loss, as butterfly fauna is dependent upon proper environmental conditions.

Divergence in the ovipositional behavior of the Papilio glaucus group

This study contrasts the ovipositional profiles of four members of the Papilio glaucus group, P. glaucus, P. multicaudatus, P. canadensis, and P. rutulus. We used seven choice oviposition bioassays containing leaves from hosts in seven plant families utilized by members of the P. glaucus group. Specifically, we contrast the overall ovipositional profiles of these species and their acceptance of a host in a novel plant family （Populus tremuloides： Salicaceae） and a host in a putatively ancestral host plant family （Liriodendron tulipifera： Magnoliaceae）. Significant differences were observed between the ovipositional profiles of P. glaucus and P. multicaudatus relative to each other and to P. canadensis and P. rutulus. In contrast, no significant differences were observed between the ovipositional profiles of P. canadensis and P. rutulus, which were also the only species that accepted P. tremuloides. Unlike the acceptance of P. tremuloides, the acceptance of L. tulipifera was present throughout the group despite the inability of the larvae of most species in the group to utilize this host. These results support the prediction of the ＂hierarchical threshold model＂ that ancestral host plants are likely to be retained in the ovipositional hierarchy while novel hosts should only be accepted by derived populations.

Taste sensitivity and divergence in host plant acceptance between adult females and larvae of Papilio hospiton

On the island of Sardinia the lepidopteran Papilio hospiton uses Ferula com- munis as exclusive host plant. However, on the small island of Tavolara, adult females lay eggs on Seseli tortuosum, a plant confined to the island. When raised in captivity on Seseli only few larvae grew beyond the first-second instar. Host specificity of lepidopterans is determined by female oviposition preferences, but also by larval food acceptance, and adult and larval taste sensitivity may be related to host selection in both cases. Aim of this work was： （i） to study the taste sensitivity of larvae and ovipositing females to saps of Ferula and Seseli; （ii） to cross-compare the spike activity of gustatory receptor neurons （GRNs） to both taste stimuli; （iii） to evaluate the discriminating capability between the two saps and determine which neural code/s is/are used. The results show that： （i） the spike responses of the tarsal GRNs of adult females to both plant saps are not different and therefore they cannot discriminate the two plants; （ii） larval L-lat GRN shows a higher activity in response to Seseli than Ferula, while the opposite occurs for the phagostimulant neurons, and larvae may discriminate between the two saps by means of multiple neural codes; （iii） the number of eggs laid on the two plants is the same, but the larval growth performance is better on Ferula than Seseli. Taste sensitivity differences may explain the absence of a positive relationship between oviposition preferences by adult females and plant acceptance and growth performance by larvae.

Differential effects of short term winter thermal stress on diapausing tiger swallowtail butterflies （Papilio spp.）

It is generally thought that insects inhabiting lower latitudes are more severely impacted by changes in their thermal environment than are high latitude species. This is attributed to the wider range of temperatures to which high-latitude species are exposed. By contrast, low-latitude species have typically evolved in more thermally stable environments with a narrower range of temperature variation. However, deviation from this pattern can occur and here we report that under variable winter conditions a higher latitude species may be more sensitive to thermal variation than its lower latitude sister species. Using split broods, we examined the survival and adult emergence success of diapausing pupae of Papilio canadensis and P. glaucus, as well as a unique, recombinant hybrid population （＂late-flight＂） to short periods of mid-winter cold and heat stress. Our results indicate that the higher latitude, univoltine populations （P. canadensis and late-flights） exhibit lower pupal survival than the lower latitude, facultative diapauser （P. glaucus） for all mid-winter thermal stress treatments, both high and low. Size differences alone do not appear to account for the observed differences in survival or metabolic costs in these three pheno- types, as late-flight individuals are similar in size to R glaucus. We attribute the observed differences in survival and weight loss to potential metabolic differences and variation in the intensity of diapause, in addition to divergent adaptation to winter precipitation levels （e.g. snow cover） and the influences this may have on microhabitat temperature moderation.

Salicaceae detoxification abilities in Florida tiger swallowtail butterflies （Papilio glaucus maynardi Gauthier）＂ Novel ability or Pleistocene holdover？

Florida populations of the eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus L., have unique morphological features and ecological adaptations that have contributed to their subspecies status （P. g. rnaynardi Gauthier）. We describe geographically unique abilities for detoxification of Carolina willow, Salix caroliniana Michx. （Salicaceae）, for several Florida populations of P. g. maynardi. Of all the approximately 570 worldwide species of the Papilionidae, such Salicaceae detoxification abilities exist only in the allopatric North American western and northernmost species （P. rutulus Lucas, R eurymedon Lucas and P. canadensis Rothschild ＆ Jordan）. Females of P. glaucus collected from populations in southeastern USA were examined for oviposition preference in 5-choice assays, and displayed a low preference for Salicaceae （〈5%）, but larvae from Florida populations exhibited a high survival （〉 60%） on these plants. Detoxification abilities have previously shown to be autosomally inherited, and can be transferred via natural or hand-paired interspecific hybrid introgression. However, these Florida populations are at least 700-1 500 km from the nearest hybrids or the hybrid species, 17. appalachiensis Pavulaan ＆ Wright, which possess these detoxification abilities. In any case, the Z （ = X）-linked oviposition preferences for Salicaceae are lacking in these Florida populations, illustrating genetic independence ofoviposition preference determination and larval survival/performance abilities. The origins of detoxification abilities are unlikely to be due to recent climate-driven introgression, and may represent ancestral trait carry-overs from interglacial refugium populations of the Pleistocene epoch.