The intraspecific structure of the Yellow-spotted ringlet Erebia manto (Denis & Schiffermüller, [1775]), with special reference to the bubastis group: an integration of morphology, allozyme and mtDNA data (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae)

Abstract

Abstract. Present-day intraspecific diversity has largely been shaped by previous climatic events, but the spatial and temporal scales of differentiation processes in most species remain to be clarified. In Europe, the Pleistocene glacial cycles have generated population structures that remain especially evident in montane taxa. The intraspecific variation of the European subalpine Yellow-spotted Ringlet,Erebia manto(Denis & Schiffermüller, [1775]), shows a hierarchical, two-level structure that allows us to study intermediate stages of speciation. Morphologically, three subspecies clusters have been described in this butterfly: themanto,bubastisandvogesiacatype. An allozyme study previously revealed two genetic lineages within themantotype, and two within thevogesiacatype, but lackedbubastisrepresentatives. To further our knowledge of the intraspecific structure ofE. manto, we sampled all known and presumed intraspecific groups and sequenced 1,496 base pairs of the mitochondrial gene COI for 152 specimens from 15 localities. A median joining haplotype network, based on 40 parsimony informative sites, confirmed the four allozyme based lineages. Thebubastistype was acknowledged as a fifth genetic lineage, replacing themantotype populations in the southern part of the western Alps, and separated from it by a well-known zoogeographic borderline. We discuss how the present-day distributions, genetic relationships and timing of the differentiations align.