Discovery of a peculiar insular race of Ravenna nivea (Nire, 1920) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) endemic to Yinggeling Mountain of Hainan, suggesting heterogeneous geological history of mountain formation of the island

Yu-Feng Hsu; Yik Fui Philip Lo; Rung-Juen Lin

doi:10.7717/peerj.17172

Discovery of a peculiar insular race of Ravenna nivea (Nire, 1920) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) endemic to Yinggeling Mountain of Hainan, suggesting heterogeneous geological history of mountain formation of the island

PeerJ. 2024 Apr 23:12:e17172. doi: 10.7717/peerj.17172. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Yu-Feng Hsu¹, Yik Fui Philip Lo², Rung-Juen Lin³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
² Kadoorie Conservation China, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong, China.
³ Department of Pediatrics and Medical Genetics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.

Abstract

A peculiar population of Ravenna nivea (Nire, 1920) was discovered from the Yinggeling Mountain Mass of central Hainan. Its wing pattern and COI barcode data show considerable distinction from other geographic populations of R. nivea, including that of Bawangling, approximately only 40 km away and also located in Hainan. The p-distance value of the COI barcode between the Yinggeling and Bawangling populations was 1.1%, considerably higher than the value (0.6%) between Bawangling population and populations in eastern China, where the subspecific name howarthi Saigusa, 1993 applies. The population is regarded as a distinct subspecies ngiunmoiae Lo & Hsu, subsp. nov. The distinctness and high degree of COI haplotype diversity of R. nivea found in Hainan and Taiwan suggest continental islands may serve as glacial refugees for the butterfly and other organisms during previous glaciations, and the presence of the relict populations of montane butterflies like R. nivea may provide useful clues towards a better understanding of the geological history of mountain formation within islands.

Keywords: Butterfly; Endemism; Glacial relict; Hairstreak; Theclina; Theclinae; Zephyrus.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Butterflies* / genetics
China
DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic
Electron Transport Complex IV / genetics
Genetic Variation / genetics
Haplotypes
Islands
Phylogeny
Wings, Animal / anatomy & histology

Substances

Electron Transport Complex IV

Grants and funding

The present study was supported by a Cross Strait project issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) grant of Taiwan (104-2621-B-003-001-MY3) and the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hong Kong. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.