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Ecological specialization is associated with genetic structure in the ant-associated butterfly family Lycaenidae

  • Schär, Sämi Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, Copenhagen Ø 2100, Denmark
  • Eastwood, Rodney Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Institute for Agricultural Sciences Biocommunication and Entomology, Weinbergstrasse 56-58, Zürich 8092, Switzerland
  • Arnaldi, Kimberly G. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
  • Talavera, Gerard ORCID Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37, Barcelona 08003, Spain
  • Kaliszewska, Zofia A. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
  • Boyle, John H. ORCID Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
  • Espeland, Marianne Arthropoda Department, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauer Allee 160, Bonn 53113, Germany
  • Nash, David R. ORCID Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, Copenhagen Ø 2100, Denmark
  • Vila, Roger ORCID Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37, Barcelona 08003, Spain
  • Pierce, Naomi E. ORCID Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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  • 2018-9-12
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  • Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. - The Royal Society. - 2018, vol. 285, no. 1886, p. 20181158
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
General Immunology and Microbiology
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
General Environmental Science
General Medicine
English The role of specialization in diversification can be explored along two geological axes in the butterfly family Lycaenidae. In addition to variation in host-plant specialization normally exhibited by butterflies, the caterpillars of most Lycaenidae have symbioses with ants ranging from no interactions through to obligate and specific associations, increasing niche dimensionality in ant-associated taxa. Based on mitochondrial sequences from 8282 specimens from 967 species and 249 genera, we show that the degree of ecological specialization of lycaenid species is positively correlated with genetic divergence, haplotype diversity and an increase in isolation by distance. Nucleotide substitution rate is higher in carnivorous than phytophagous lycaenids. The effects documented here for both micro- and macroevolutionary processes could result from increased spatial segregation as a consequence of reduced connectivity in specialists, niche-based divergence or a combination of both. They could also provide an explanation for the extraordinary diversity of the Lycaenidae and, more generally, for diversity in groups of organisms with similar multi-dimensional ecological specialization.
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  • English
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bronze
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https://sonar.ch/global/documents/89068
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