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Elucidating genetic signatures of native and introduced populations of the Cycad Blue, Chilades pandava to Taiwan: a threat both to Sago Palm and to native Cycas populations worldwide

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Abstract

Foreign plants are usually introduced for food or aesthetic reasons. Most of these plants are non-invasive, but can alter the evolutionary trajectory of the associated native insects or inadvertently spread potential pests. A hitherto poorly documented example is the rapid expansion of Chilades pandava, a Cycas-feeding butterfly. Since about 1990, large numbers of the Sago Palm Cycas revoluta were introduced into Taiwan. Invading or introduced with this hostplant, Ch. pandava has rapidly spread to all major parts of Taiwan. To trace the source of outbreaks, we sampled 810 specimens covering 50 Taiwanese localities and other regions using mitochondrial COII sequences. Overall haplotype diversity was high (h = 0.791), but only 29 haplotypes were found. The haplotype C which dominates outbreak populations from western Taiwan was endemic to the island. This is consistent with the hypothesis of a local range expansion of Ch. pandava, rather than an introduction. In addition, the Taiwanese Central Mountain Ridge may constitute a primary biogeographic barrier restricting gene flow between eastern and western populations. Our study not only flags an important new invasive insect that needs to be monitored and controlled within the horticultural trade and for in situ cycad conservation, but also provides a clearly documented case of the transformation of a native tropical butterfly into a pest via introduced horticultural plants.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Council (NSC), Taiwan under NSC90-2313-B-003-002, NSC91-2313-B-003-002, NSC92-2313-B-003-001, and NSC 96-2621-B-110-001. We would like to thank Dr. Chih-Chien Lu, Pei-Chun Liao, Chia-Hung Hsieh, and Mr. Yik-fui Lo, Chia-Long Huang, Li-Hao Wang, Ming-Chong Ng, Hieng-Ming Ting, Zhi-Yi Shi, Andy Jan, and Miss Nan-Ying Chen, Jin-Rong Zhu and Shu-Ting Ang for providing the specimens from Taiwan, Southeast Asia and some places from mainland China. We also thank Dr. Hideyuki Chiba, and Dr. Masaya Yago for providing specimens from Japan, Dr. Tsuyoshi Takeuchi for providing specimens from Korea, and Dr. Aubrey Moore for providing specimens from Guam. Madagascar specimens were collected under Leverhulme Trust F/696/I and National Geographical Society #7332-02 and Steve Collins and Ichiro Nakamura are thanked also for providing extra data and specimens. One of us (DCL) benefited from a STUDIUM fellowship during the writing of this paper. Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde kindly commented on the manuscript.

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  1. David C. Lees

    Present address: Centre de Recherche d’ Orléans, INRA, UR 633 Zoologie Forestière, 45075, Orléans, France

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  1. Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Ting-Chou Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei, 116, Taiwan, ROC

    Li-Wei Wu & Yu-Feng Hsu

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC

    Shen-Horn Yen

  3. Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    David C. Lees

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Wu, LW., Yen, SH., Lees, D.C. et al. Elucidating genetic signatures of native and introduced populations of the Cycad Blue, Chilades pandava to Taiwan: a threat both to Sago Palm and to native Cycas populations worldwide. Biol Invasions 12, 2649–2669 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-009-9672-4

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