Hybridisation in Colias butterflies (Lepidoptera, Pieridae): identification of natural hybrids using unlinked molecular markers

In this report, we analyze a wild-caught Colias specimen from Kyrgyzstan with unusual wing pattern, which was provisionally identified as a natural hybrid between Colias christophi helialaica Schulte, 1988 and Colias cocandica cocandica Erschoff, 1874 due to its intermediate phenotype. Using one mit...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shapoval, Nazar A., Krupitsky, Anatoly V., Yakovlev, Roman V., Kir'yanov, Alexander V., Shapoval, Galina N.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Central Asia
DNA barcodes
interspecific hybridisation
molecular markers
Sibirica
Online Access:https://zenodo.org/record/8353128
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8353128
Description
Summary:In this report, we analyze a wild-caught Colias specimen from Kyrgyzstan with unusual wing pattern, which was provisionally identified as a natural hybrid between Colias christophi helialaica Schulte, 1988 and Colias cocandica cocandica Erschoff, 1874 due to its intermediate phenotype. Using one mitochondrial (COI barcode) and three nuclear (Ca-ATPase, H3 and CAD gene fragments) markers, we confirm its hybrid origin and demonstrate that this specimen is a hybrid between a female of Colias christophi helialaica and a male of Colias cocandica cocandica. Our study shows that an analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear molecular markers can successfully discriminate natural hybrids in such a taxonomically challenging group of butterflies as the genus Colias. The authors are grateful to Alexander Baryshev (Penza, Russia) for providing material for DNA analysis. The study was supported by the grant of Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22-24-01086 (molecular analysis) and by the state research project No. 122031100272-3 (morphological analysis).

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