Improved injection needles facilitate germline transformation of the buckeye butterfly Junonia coenia

Speciation in North American Junonia from a genomic perspective

Delineating species boundaries in phylogenetic groups undergoing recent radiation is a daunting challenge akin to discretizing continuity. Here, we propose a general approach exemplified by American butterflies from the genus Junonia Hübner notorious for the variety of similar phenotypes, ease of hybridization, and the lack of consensus about their classification. We obtain whole-genome shotgun sequences of about 200 specimens. We reason that discreteness emerges from continuity by means of a small number of key players, and search for the proteins that diverged markedly between sympatric populations of different species, while keeping low polymorphism within these species. Being 0.25% of the total number, these three dozen 'speciation' proteins indeed partition pairs of Junonia populations into two clusters with a prominent break in between, while all proteins taken together fail to reveal this discontinuity. Populations with larger divergence from each other, comparable to that between two sympatric species, form the first cluster and correspond to different species. The other cluster is characterized by smaller divergence, similar to that between allopatric populations of the same species and comprise conspecific pairs. Using this method, we conclude that J. genoveva (Cramer), J. litoralis Brévignon, J. evarete (Cramer), and J. divaricata C. & R. Felder are restricted to South America. We find that six species of Junonia are present in the United States, one of which is new: Junonia stemosa Grishin, sp.n. (i), found in south Texas and phenotypically closest to J. nigrosuffusa W. Barnes & McDunnough (ii) in its dark appearance. In the pale nudum of the antennal club, these two species resemble J. zonalis C. & R. Felder (iii) from Florida and the Caribbean Islands. The pair of sister species, J. grisea Austin & J. Emmel (iv) and J. coenia Hübner (v), represent the classic west/east U.S.A. split. The mangrove feeder (as caterpillar), dark nudum J. neildi Brévignon (vi) enters south Texas as a new subspecies Junonia neildi varia Grishin ssp.n. characterized by more extensive hybridization with and introgression from J. coenia, and, as a consequence, more variable wing patterns compared with the nominal J. n. neildi in Florida. Furthermore, a new mangrove-feeding species from the Pacific Coast of Mexico is described as Junonia pacoma Grishin sp.n. Finally, genomic analysis suggests that J. nigrosuffusa may be a hybrid species formed by the ancestors of J. grisea and J. stemosa sp.n.

A tale of two haplotype groups: Evaluating the New World Junonia ring species hypothesis using the distribution of divergent COI haplotypes

The New World Junonia butterflies are a possible ring species with a circum-Caribbean distribution. Previous reports suggest a steady transition between North and South American forms in Mesoamerica, but in Cuba the forms were thought to co-exist without interbreeding representing the overlapping ends of the ring. Three criteria establish the existence of a ring species: a ring-shaped geographic distribution, gene flow among intervening forms, and genetic isolation in the region of range overlap. We evaluated mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I haplotypes in Junonia from 9 species in the Western Hemisphere to test the Junonia ring species hypothesis. Junonia species are generally not monophyletic with respect to COI haplotypes, which are shared across species. However, two major COI haplotype groups exist. Group A predominates in South America, and Group B predominates in North and Central America. Therefore, COI haplotypes can be used to assess the degree of genetic influence a population receives from each continent. Junonia shows a ring-shaped distribution around the Caribbean, and evidence is consistent with gene flow among forms of Junonia, including those from Mesoamerica. However, we detected no discontinuity in gene flow in Cuba or elsewhere in the Caribbean consistent with genetic isolation in the region of overlap. Though sampling is still very limited in the critical region, the only remaining possiblity for a circum-Caribbean discontinuity in gene flow is at the Isthmus of Panama, where there may be a transition from 98% Group B haplotypes in Costa Rica to 85-100% Group A haplotypes in South America.

Color pattern evolution in Vanessa butterflies (Nymphalidae: Nymphalini): non-eyespot characters

A phylogenetic approach was used to study color pattern evolution in Vanessa butterflies. Twenty-four color pattern elements from the Nymphalid ground plan were identified on the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the fore- and hind wings. Eyespot characters were excluded and will be examined elsewhere. The evolution of each character was traced over a Bayesian phylogeny of Vanessa reconstructed from 7750 DNA base pairs from 10 genes. Generally, the correspondence between character states on the same surface of the two wings is stronger on the ventral side compared to the dorsal side. The evolution of character states on both sides of a wing correspond with each other in most extant species, but the correspondence between dorsal and ventral character states is much stronger in the forewing than in the hindwing. The dorsal hindwing of many species of Vanessa is covered with an extended Basal Symmetry System and the Discalis I pattern element is highly variable between species, making this wing surface dissimilar to the other wing surfaces. The Basal Symmetry System and Discalis I may contribute to behavioral thermoregulation in Vanessa. Overall, interspecific directional character state evolution of non-eyespot color patterns is relatively rare in Vanessa, with a majority of color pattern elements showing non-variable, non-directional, or ambiguous character state evolution. The ease with which the development of color patterns can be modified, including character state reversals, has likely made important contributions to the production of color pattern diversity in Vanessa and other butterfly groups.