Als Thomas D, Vila Roger, Kandul Nikolai P, Nash David R, Yen Shen-Horn, Hsu Yu-Feng, Mignault André A, Boomsma Jacobus J, Pierce Naomi E
Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Aarhus, Ny Munkegade, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Nature. 2004 Nov 18;432(7015):386-90. doi: 10.1038/nature03020.
Large blue (Maculinea) butterflies are highly endangered throughout the Palaearctic region, and have been the focus of intense conservation research. In addition, their extraordinary parasitic lifestyles make them ideal for studies of life history evolution. Early instars consume flower buds of specific host plants, but later instars live in ant nests where they either devour the brood (predators), or are fed mouth-to-mouth by the adult ants (cuckoos). Here we present the phylogeny for the group, which shows that it is a monophyletic clade nested within Phengaris, a rare Oriental genus whose species have similar life histories. Cuckoo species are likely to have evolved from predatory ancestors. As early as five million years ago, two Maculinea clades diverged, leading to the different parasitic strategies seen in the genus today. Contrary to current belief, the two recognized cuckoo species show little genetic divergence and are probably a single ecologically differentiated species. On the other hand, some of the predatory morphospecies exhibit considerable genetic divergence and may contain cryptic species. These findings have important implications for conservation and reintroduction efforts.
大蓝蝶（Maculinea）在整个古北区都面临高度濒危，一直是密集保护研究的焦点。此外，它们独特的寄生生活方式使其成为研究生活史进化的理想对象。早期幼虫取食特定寄主植物的花蕾，但后期幼虫生活在蚁巢中，它们要么吞食蚁卵（捕食者），要么由成年蚂蚁口对口喂食（巢寄生者）。在此，我们展示了该类群的系统发育，表明它是嵌套在Phengaris属内的一个单系分支，Phengaris属是一个罕见的东方属，其物种具有相似的生活史。巢寄生种类可能是从捕食性祖先进化而来。早在500万年前，两个大蓝蝶分支就分化了，导致了如今该属中所见的不同寄生策略。与目前的看法相反，两种公认的巢寄生种类显示出很少的遗传差异，可能是单一的生态分化物种。另一方面，一些捕食性形态种表现出相当大的遗传差异，可能包含隐存种。这些发现对保护和重新引入工作具有重要意义。
