Abstract
Background:Studies of heparin effects on Lepidoptera wing patterns have been restricted to a small number of species. I report observations from experiments on a broader range of taxa, including first results from swallowtails, tiger moths and microlepidoptera.Methods:Heparin injections were made in prepupae and pupae ofJunonia coenia(common buckeyes),Agraulis vanillae(gulf fritillaries),Heliconius charithonia(zebra longwings),Asterocampa clyton(tawny emperors), Danaus plexippus(monarchs),Vanessa atalanta(red admirals);Heraclides cresphontes(giant swallowtails),Pterourus troilus(spicebush swallowtails),Protographium marcellus(zebra swallowtails),Battus polydamas(polydamas swallowtails);Hypercompe scribonia(giant leopard moths),Estigmene acrea(acrea moths),Hyphantria cunea(fall webworm moths), Utetheisa ornatrix(ornate bella moths);Glyphodes sibillalis(mulberry leaftier).Results:Heparin sometimes altered the entire pattern in a dramatic way, sometimes caused changes locally.In buckeyes, the previous heparin study conducted on pupae was compared to injections made at a prepupal stage. In gulf fritillaries, zebra longwings and tawny emperors, the dramatic changes occurred throughout their wings, while in monarchs, changes were restricted to wing margins. Changes achieved in red admirals, show that heparin action is unrelated to the original color. In swallowtails, transformations were restricted to border system, indicating higher levels of stability and compartmentalization of wing patterns. In mulberry leaftier, changes were restricted to the marginal bands. In tiger moths, elongation of black markings led to merging of spots; in the ornate bella moth, it was accompanied by an expansion of the surrounding white bands, and results were compared to the effects of colder temperatures.Conclusions:Using pharmaceutical intervention demonstrates that there are many similarities and some very significant differences in the ways wing patterns are formed in different Lepidoptera lineages. By creating a range of variation one can demonstrate how one pattern can easily evolve into another, aiding in understanding of speciation and adaptation processes.
Highlights
Studies of heparin effects on Lepidoptera wing patterns have been restricted to a small number of species
I present here the results of experiments conducted on the following Lepidoptera species: Nymphalidae: the red admiral (Vanessa atalanta); the monarchs (Danaus plexippus), the gulf fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae), the zebra longwings (Heliconius charithonia), the tawny emperors (Asterocampa clyton); Papilionidae: the giant swallowtail (Heraclides cresphontes), the spicebush swallowtail (Pterourus troilus), the zebra swallowtail (Protographium marcellus), and the polydamas swallowtail (Battus polydamas); Erebidae: the leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia), the acrea moth (Estigmene acrea), the fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea), the ornate bella moth (Utetheisa ornatrix); and Crambidae: the mulberry leaftier (Glyphodes sibillalis)
The transformations were achieved in 13 species of Lepidoptera, nine butterflies and four moths (Figure 1)
Summary
Any reports and responses or comments on the article can be found at the end of the article. I present here the results of experiments conducted on the following Lepidoptera species: Nymphalidae: the red admiral (Vanessa atalanta); the monarchs (Danaus plexippus), the gulf fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae), the zebra longwings (Heliconius charithonia), the tawny emperors (Asterocampa clyton); Papilionidae: the giant swallowtail (Heraclides cresphontes), the spicebush swallowtail (Pterourus troilus), the zebra swallowtail (Protographium marcellus), and the polydamas swallowtail (Battus polydamas); Erebidae: the leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia), the acrea moth (Estigmene acrea), the fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea), the ornate bella moth (Utetheisa ornatrix); and Crambidae: the mulberry leaftier (Glyphodes sibillalis) All of these species are common to Florida. They offer a good basis for comparison as they represent several different Lepidoptera (see Table 1 for subfamilies/tribes they represent) lineages, for which we have a good timereferenced phylogeny (Kawahara et al, 2019)
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