Entomologists have described a new species of tiger swallowtail (genus Papilio) from eastern North America.
Papilio is a large genus of swallowtail butterflies within the family Papilionidae.
The only representative of the tribe Papilionini, the genus includes about 200 scientifically recognized species.
The newly-identified member of the genus, named Papilio solstitius, belongs to the North American Papilio glaucus species group.
“The Papilio glaucus group is a model study system in insect evolutionary biology,” Dr. B. Christian Schmidt from the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes and colleagues wrote in their paper.
“The recognition and delimitation of Papilio glaucus and Papilio canadensis as a classic sibling species pair led to three decades of study in speciation, host plant adaptation, hybridization, and molecular evolution.”
“More recently, the discovery of a third species, Papilio appalachiensis, has provided unprecedented insight into speciation via hybridization.”
“The Papilio glaucus group is part of a larger, predominantly New World clade of swallowtails of the subgenus Pterourus, sometimes recognized as a distinct genus,” they added.
“Each of the species in the group show adaptation to different thermal niches that can be broadly characterized as warm (Papilio glaucus), intermediate (Papilio appalachiensis), and cool (Papilio canadensis) climatic regions; all have broad larval host plant diets, and are not restricted by the distributions thereof.”
Papilio solstitius is closely related to these three species, but differs from all in a suite of characters.
“The most significant differences are apparent in developmental biology and phenology,” the researchers wrote.
“Papilio solstitius is unique in its long post-diapause emergence delay, with adult eclosion beginning in late June to early July, compared to May for all other species.”
Papilio solstitius’ geographic range spans the region…
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