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Aduse-Poku K, van Bergen E, Sáfián S, Collins SC, Etienne RS, Herrera-Alsina L, Brakefield PM, Brattström O, Lohman DJ, Wahlberg N. Miocene Climate and Habitat Change Drove Diversification in Bicyclus, Africa's Largest Radiation of Satyrine Butterflies. Syst Biol 2021; 71:570-588. [PMID: 34363477 PMCID: PMC9016770 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syab066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Compared to other regions, the drivers of diversification in Africa are poorly understood. We studied a radiation of insects with over 100 species occurring in a wide range of habitats across the Afrotropics to investigate the fundamental evolutionary processes and geological events that generate and maintain patterns of species richness on the continent. By investigating the evolutionary history of Bicyclus butterflies within a phylogenetic framework, we inferred the group's origin at the Oligo-Miocene boundary from ancestors in the Congolian rainforests of central Africa. Abrupt climatic fluctuations during the Miocene (ca. 19-17 Ma) likely fragmented ancestral populations, resulting in at least eight early-divergent lineages. Only one of these lineages appears to have diversified during the drastic climate and biome changes of the early Miocene, radiating into the largest group of extant species. The other seven lineages diversified in forest ecosystems during the late Miocene and Pleistocene when climatic conditions were more favourable-warmer and wetter. Our results suggest changing Neogene climate, uplift of eastern African orogens, and biotic interactions might have had different effects on the various subclades of Bicyclus, producing one of the most spectacular butterfly radiations in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kwaku Aduse-Poku
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK.,Biology Department, University of Richmond, Richmond, 138 UR Drive, USA.,Department of Life and Earth Sciences, Perimeter College, Georgia State University, USA
| | - Erik van Bergen
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Szabolcs Sáfián
- Institute of Silviculture and Forest Protection, University of Sopron, Sopron, Hungary
| | - Steve C Collins
- African Butterfly Research Institute, P.O. Box 14308, 0800 Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Rampal S Etienne
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, 9700 CC Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Paul M Brakefield
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
| | - Oskar Brattström
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK.,African Butterfly Research Institute, P.O. Box 14308, 0800 Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya.,University of Glasgow, School of Life Sciences, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.,University of Glasgow, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
| | - David J Lohman
- Biology Department, City College of New York, City University of New York, USA.,Ph.D. Program in Biology, Graduate Center, City University of New York, NY, USA.,Entomology Section, National Museum of Natural History, Manila, 1000, Philippines
| | - Niklas Wahlberg
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan35, SE-223, 62 Lund, Sweden
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Halali S, van Bergen E, Breuker CJ, Brakefield PM, Brattström O. Seasonal environments drive convergent evolution of a faster pace-of-life in tropical butterflies. Ecol Lett 2020; 24:102-112. [PMID: 33099881 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Revised: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
New ecological niches that may arise due to climate change can trigger diversification, but their colonisation often requires adaptations in a suite of life-history traits. We test this hypothesis in species-rich Mycalesina butterflies that have undergone parallel radiations in Africa, Asia, and Madagascar. First, our ancestral state reconstruction of habitat preference, using c. 85% of extant species, revealed that early forest-linked lineages began to invade seasonal savannahs during the late Miocene-Pliocene. Second, rearing replicate pairs of forest and savannah species from the African and Malagasy radiation in a common garden experiment, and utilising published data from the Asian radiation, demonstrated that savannah species consistently develop faster, have smaller bodies, higher fecundity with an earlier investment in reproduction, and reduced longevity, compared to forest species across all three radiations. We argue that time-constraints for reproduction favoured the evolution of a faster pace-of-life in savannah species that facilitated their persistence in seasonal habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sridhar Halali
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Erik van Bergen
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK.,Research Centre of Ecological Change, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Helsinki Institute of Life Science HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Casper J Breuker
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Paul M Brakefield
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Oskar Brattström
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK.,School of Health and Life Sciences, University of West Scotland, Paisley, PA1 2BE, Scotland
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Duplouy A, Pranter R, Warren-Gash H, Tropek R, Wahlberg N. Towards unravelling Wolbachia global exchange: a contribution from the Bicyclus and Mylothris butterflies in the Afrotropics. BMC Microbiol 2020; 20:319. [PMID: 33081703 PMCID: PMC7576836 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-020-02011-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Phylogenetically closely related strains of maternally inherited endosymbiotic bacteria are often found in phylogenetically divergent, and geographically distant insect host species. The interspecies transfer of the symbiont Wolbachia has been thought to have occurred repeatedly, facilitating its observed global pandemic. Few ecological interactions have been proposed as potential routes for the horizontal transfer of Wolbachia within natural insect communities. These routes are however likely to act only at the local scale, but how they may support the global distribution of some Wolbachia strains remains unclear. Results Here, we characterize the Wolbachia diversity in butterflies from the tropical forest regions of central Africa to discuss transfer at both local and global scales. We show that numerous species from both the Mylothris (family Pieridae) and Bicyclus (family Nymphalidae) butterfly genera are infected with similar Wolbachia strains, despite only minor interclade contacts across the life cycles of the species within their partially overlapping ecological niches. The phylogenetic distance and differences in resource use between these genera rule out the role of ancestry, hybridization, and shared host-plants in the interspecies transfer of the symbiont. Furthermore, we could not identify any shared ecological factors to explain the presence of the strains in other arthropod species from other habitats, or even ecoregions. Conclusion Only the systematic surveys of the Wolbachia strains from entire species communities may offer the material currently lacking for understanding how Wolbachia may transfer between highly different and unrelated hosts, as well as across environmental scales. Supplementary information Supplementary information accompanies this paper at 10.1186/s12866-020-02011-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Duplouy
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. .,Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, The University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Robin Pranter
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Robert Tropek
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.,Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
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Light environments affect herbivory patterns but not reproductive performance of a multivoltine specialist moth, Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata. Sci Rep 2020; 10:16868. [PMID: 33037317 PMCID: PMC7547008 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74079-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Unravelling the responses of insect herbivores to light-environment-mediated variation in the traits of their host plants is central to our understanding of the nutritional ecology of, and factors driving the population dynamics in, these species. This study examined the effect of light environment (shaded vs full-sun habitat) on leaf toughness and leaf nutritional quality in Chromolaena odorata (an invasive species in West Africa) and related these attributes to the abundance, herbivory patterns and reproductive performance of a multivoltine specialist moth, Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata (a biological control agent). In this system, plants growing in shaded areas in the field experienced more herbivory and had higher herbivore abundance than those growing in full-sun. In the laboratory, P. pseudoinsulata larvae consumed significantly greater amounts of shaded foliage relative to full-sun foliage. However, reproductive performance metrics such as mating success, pre-oviposition period, number of eggs laid, duration of egg laying, egg hatchability, and adult longevity in P. pseudoinsulata did not differ according to foliage types. Reduced leaf toughness, increased water and nitrogen contents in shaded leaves coincided with increased leaf consumption by the larvae of P. pseudoinsulata. In summary, this study showed for the first time that light environments affect herbivory patterns but not reproductive performance of P. pseudoinsulata and hypothesized that high foliar nitrogen and water contents in shaded leaves resulted in feedback and necessity consumption patterns.
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Halali S, Brakefield PM, Collins SC, Brattström O. To mate, or not to mate: The evolution of reproductive diapause facilitates insect radiation into African savannahs in the Late Miocene. J Anim Ecol 2020; 89:1230-1241. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sridhar Halali
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
| | | | | | - Oskar Brattström
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
- African Butterfly Research Institute (ABRI) Nairobi Kenya
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Kergoat GJ, Condamine FL, Toussaint EFA, Capdevielle-Dulac C, Clamens AL, Barbut J, Goldstein PZ, Le Ru B. Opposite macroevolutionary responses to environmental changes in grasses and insects during the Neogene grassland expansion. Nat Commun 2018; 9:5089. [PMID: 30504767 PMCID: PMC6269479 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07537-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2018] [Accepted: 11/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The rise of Neogene C4 grasslands is one of the most drastic changes recently experienced by the biosphere. A central - and widely debated - hypothesis posits that Neogene grasslands acted as a major adaptive zone for herbivore lineages. We test this hypothesis with a novel model system, the Sesamiina stemborer moths and their associated host-grasses. Using a comparative phylogenetic framework integrating paleoenvironmental proxies we recover a negative correlation between the evolutionary trajectories of insects and plants. Our results show that paleoenvironmental changes generated opposing macroevolutionary dynamics in this insect-plant system and call into question the role of grasslands as a universal adaptive cradle. This study illustrates the importance of implementing environmental proxies in diversification analyses to disentangle the relative impacts of biotic and abiotic drivers of macroevolutionary dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gael J Kergoat
- CBGP, INRA, CIRAD, IRD, Montpellier SupAgro, University of Montpellier, 755 Avenue du campus Agropolis, 34988, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.
| | - Fabien L Condamine
- CNRS, UMR 5554 Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier, France
| | | | - Claire Capdevielle-Dulac
- UMR EGCE (Evolution, Génome, Comportement, Ecologie), CNRS-IRD-Univ. Paris-Sud, IDEEV, Université Paris-Saclay, 1 Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Anne-Laure Clamens
- CBGP, INRA, CIRAD, IRD, Montpellier SupAgro, University of Montpellier, 755 Avenue du campus Agropolis, 34988, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France
| | - Jérôme Barbut
- MNHN, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Entomologie), 57 rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Paul Z Goldstein
- USDA, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, PO Box 37012, Washington DC, USA
| | - Bruno Le Ru
- UMR EGCE (Evolution, Génome, Comportement, Ecologie), CNRS-IRD-Univ. Paris-Sud, IDEEV, Université Paris-Saclay, 1 Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- IRD c/o ICIPE, NSBB Project, PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya
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Nokelainen O, van Bergen E, Ripley BS, Brakefield PM. Adaptation of a tropical butterfly to a temperate climate. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blx145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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van Bergen E, Osbaldeston D, Kodandaramaiah U, Brattström O, Aduse-Poku K, Brakefield PM. Conserved patterns of integrated developmental plasticity in a group of polyphenic tropical butterflies. BMC Evol Biol 2017; 17:59. [PMID: 28241743 PMCID: PMC5327525 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-017-0907-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Accepted: 02/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Developmental plasticity is thought to have profound macro-evolutionary effects, for example, by increasing the probability of establishment in new environments and subsequent divergence into independently evolving lineages. In contrast to plasticity optimized for individual traits, phenotypic integration, which enables a concerted response of plastic traits to environmental variability, may affect the rate of local adaptation by constraining independent responses of traits to selection. Using a comparative framework, this study explores the evolution of reaction norms for a variety of life history and morphological traits across five related species of mycalesine butterflies from the Old World tropics. RESULTS Our data indicate that an integrated response of a suite of key traits is shared amongst these species. Interestingly, the traits that make up the functional suite are all known to be regulated by ecdysteroid signalling in Bicyclus anynana, one of the species included in this study, suggesting the same underlying hormonal regulator may be conserved within this group of polyphenic butterflies. We also detect developmental thresholds for the expression of alternative morphs. CONCLUSIONS The phenotypic plasticity of a broad suite of morphological and life history traits is integrated and shared among species from three geographically independent lineages of mycalesine butterflies, despite considerable periods of independent evolution and exposure to disparate environments. At the same time, we have detected examples of evolutionary change where independent traits show different patterns of reaction norms. We argue that the expression of more robust phenotypes may occur by shifting developmental thresholds beyond the boundaries of the typical environmental variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik van Bergen
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK.
- Present Address: Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Rua da Quinta Grande 6, P-2780, Oeiras, Portugal.
| | - Dave Osbaldeston
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Ullasa Kodandaramaiah
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
- School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, CET campus, Trivandrum, 695016, India
| | - Oskar Brattström
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Kwaku Aduse-Poku
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
- Present Address: Department of Biology, City College of New York, City University of New York, Convent Avenue at 138th Street, New York, NY, 10031, USA
| | - Paul M Brakefield
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
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