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Hyles tithymali deserticola (Staudinger, 1901) - First record for the Maltese Islands (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)
Abstract
The presence of Hyles tithymali deserticola (Staudinger, 1901) is recorded for the first time from the Maltese archipelago.
... Later, de Freina & Geck (2002) discussed whether Hyles sammuti also occurs on Sicily. Most recently, the external morphology of migrant moths from Malta led Catania ( 2008 ) to report the fi rst apparent occurrence of true H. tithymali from this island. So the infl uence of this species in the hybrid population on Malta may, thus, be expected to increase. ...
... It may be that adults of H. tithymali disperse to Germany (and perhaps other central European countries) at irregular intervals, whereupon some parts of the genome become integrated into those of the local H. euphorbiae population by means of introgression. Perhaps these individuals could be moths moving north during hot summers (as indicated in the case of Malta; Catania 2008 ), but in at least one case it cannot be ruled out that they were deliberately released by misguided moth rearers and, thus, their appearance represents anthropogenic pollution of the gene pool rather than a natural phenomenon. Th is latter possibility is strengthened by the observation that in the case of Germany, the possibly hybrid morphs often have red eye spots ( Fig. 14 ), a characteristic of Canary Island/north African populations of H. tithymali , and that possible natural migrants importing H. tithymali genes would more likely come from Italy, where, however, no larva with red spots has been observed ( Fig. 11 ; only one larva, #CIV 01, had light pink primary eye-spots). ...
External morphological variation in larval pattern elements in the Hyles euphorbiae complex is documented and described from independent samples of numerous populations across Europe and North Africa. Variability in the distribution of black cuticle and other colours was found to be much higher within populations than previously believed and it proved difficult to characterize any species, subspecies and even local population unequivocally using this feature alone. A representative sample of larvae from the Canary Islands, Madeira, North Africa, Iberia, Italy, Germany, Eastern Europe, Malta, Greece and Yemen, is illustrated, supplemented by observations from photographs of larvae from the Middle East and Western Asia. Taxonomy-independent definitions of larval morphotypes demonstrate significant overlap between species. We discuss the results in the context of Western Palaearctic biogeography, postulating several areas of hybridisation between the more northern Hyles euphorbiae and more southern H. tithymali that have led to the mosaic distribution patterns observed, and consider the potential of these moths for tracking the future eff ects of climate change in the Mediterranean Basin.
... Nevertheless, hawkmoths can be carried by winds > 5 m/s 78 and mitochondrial introgressions into Southern Europe could have happened quite recently, so we hypothesise that current wind regimes could have helped shape the genetic structure. Prevailing Levante and/or Poniente winds, which blow east/west ( Supplementary Fig. S2a), would impede gene flow across the Gibraltar Strait effectively, whereas the Sirocco appears to promote dispersal across the Central Mediterranean Sea ( Supplementary Fig. S2b), as reported for the HEC 79 . Unlike neighbouring populations (* TUN, * PAN, * LAM, * SIC), 'italica' does not occur on Malta (* MAL). ...
We test the morphology based hypothesis that the Western Palaearctic spurge hawkmoths represent two species, the Eurasian H. euphorbiae and Afro-Macaronesian H. tithymali. It has been suggested that these species merged into several hybrid swarm populations, although a mitochondrial phylogeography revealed substructure with local differentiation. We analysed a three-gene mt-dataset (889 individuals) and 12 microsatellite loci (892 individuals). Microsatellite analyses revealed an overall weak differentiation and corroborated the superordinate division into two clusters. The data indicate that the populations studied belong to only one species according to the biological species concept, refuting the opening hypothesis. A future taxonomic revision appears necessary to reflect the division into two subgroups. Ancestral mitochondrial polymorphisms are retained in H. euphorbiae, indicating gene flow within a broad ‘glacial refuge belt’ and ongoing postglacial gene flow. Diverse patterns of extensive mito-nuclear discordance in the Mediterranean and the Middle East presumably evolved by more recent processes. This discordance indicates introgression of H. tithymali-related mitochondrial haplogroups, accompanied (to a lesser degree) by nuclear alleles, into Italian and Aegean H. euphorbiae populations as recently as the late Holocene. The complex mosaic of divergence and reintegration is assumed to have been influenced by locally differing environmental barriers to gene flow.
... However, whether or not H. sammuti is a species in its own right is unclear. We suspect that it is not because moths morphologically identical to H. tithymali deserticola (Staudinger, 1901), and which are interpreted as migrants from northern Africa, continue to be reported from Malta (Catania 2008). This suggests that introgression of genetic material from North Africa, at least, is an ongoing phenomenon that would prevent H. sammuti from developing its own specific identity. ...
Hundsdoerfer, AK., Mende, MB., Kitching, IJ. & Cordellier, M. (2011). Taxonomy, phylogeography and climate relations of the Western Palaearctic spurge hawkmoth (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae, Macroglossinae). —Zoologica Scripta, 40, 403–417.
The primary aim of this study was to analyse mitochondrial genetic variability within the Hyles euphorbiae lineage in the Western Palaearctic, where observations of morphology have indicated much greater differentiation than is implied by the current taxonomy. The scope of the study is broadened further by including an analysis of the possible influences of climatic factors on lineage distributions. Mitochondrial sequences from three genes totalling an unambiguous alignment of 2284 bp were obtained for 356 individuals of the H. euphorbiae complex (HEC) s.s. Genetic admixture, network and climatic factor analyses were used to analyse the data. Unexpected mitochondrial variability was uncovered within the distribution range of H. euphorbiae in southern Europe, with two additional distinct clusters being found, both with rather patchy occurrences. The results of the genetic analysis presented here confirm a distinct H. cretica on Crete and the Dodecanese Islands and a distinct H. robertsi in Iran that hybridises with H. euphorbiae. Comparison of the molecular data with larval morphology shows only limited correlation of genetic clusters with pattern elements. The genetic network of the HEC s.s. shows strong incongruence with traditional taxonomy. Ecological niche modelling based on climate data revealed that the three best-sampled clusters (H. tithymali, the well-known H. euphorbiae lineage from Europe, and the previously unknown mitochondrial H. euphorbiae lineage that occurs mainly in Italy) could all occur in southern Italy and on the Mediterranean Islands. Biotic interactions appear to explain the observed ranges better than abiotic factors alone.
... With the exception of the odd haplotype referred to above, Hyles sammuti again appears to be a hybrid between H. tithymali and H. euphorbiae, the new samples from Malta also including haplotypes of both species. Two further Maltese specimens collected as moths at light were identified as H. tithymali deserticola (see Catania, 2008; labelled H. t. deserticola_MALTA in Fig. 1). Additional Maltese samples collected as larvae by the first author showed morphological characters consistent with a mixture between H. euphorbiae and H. tithymali. ...
The hawkmoth genus Hyles comprises some 29 species with a global distribution. In this study, we augment the previous taxon sampling with more species and add sequences from a nuclear gene to produce a refined phylogenetic hypothesis. A total evidence reconstruction based on Bayesian analysis of the combined mitochondrial (COI, t-RNA-Leu, COII; 2284 bp) and nuclear (EF1alpha; 773 bp) sequences is discussed and compared with the results from separate analyses of the two genes. The total evidence phylogeny corroborates many of the phylogenetic relationships previously postulated within the genus. In addition, the hitherto unsampled enigmatic species Hyles biguttata from Madagascar appears as sister group to Hyles livornicoides from Australia, although support for the relationship is relatively weak. The high level of differentiation of Hyles perkinsi from H. calida (both Hawaii), and the status of these two as sister species, is corroborated by both sources of sequence data. However, their phylogenetic position when mt DNA sequences alone are considered differs markedly from that under total evidence. The previously postulated relationships within the Hyles euphorbiae complex (HEC) s.s. are largely corroborated, but H. dahlii is now more closely related and the HEC s.l. is redefined to include H. zygophylli and H. stroehlei (two species that had not been studied previously using molecular data) and to exclude H. siehei and H. hippophaes. The nuclear sequences alone are insufficiently variable to fully resolve all lineages and the phylogeny suggests that nuclear gene swapping and incomplete lineage sorting have occurred implying recent divergence. The results from the total evidence analysis provide a phylogenetic hypothesis that both corroborates and complements the previous biogeographic scenario, and provides new insights into the origins of several of the included taxa.
Se publican los registros nuevos y antiguos de Daphnis nerii (Linnaeus, 1758) en Malta. Se discute el estado de esta especie migratoria.
An aberration of Hyles sammuti from the Maltese archipelago is illustrated.
The evolutionary history of the Hyles euphorbiae complex (HEC) was studied using mitochondrial DNA sequences comprising about 2300bp derived from the genes cytochrome c oxidase subunits I (COX I) and II (COX II) and tRNA-leucine. In addition, we collected genomic fingerprinting data by ISSR-PCR to assess if and how the bi-parentally inherited nucleome may have diverged differently to the maternally inherited mitochondria. The COX sequences revealed a clear geographical pattern of genetic differentiation of the HEC into two main lineages, H. euphorbiae and H. tithymali. Our results provide no evidence that H. dahlii falls within a HEC s. str., although a sister-group relationship cannot be ruled out. The sequence data indicated intraspecific subdivisions and gene flow patterns, and possibly detected both introgression and a major contact zone on Mediterranean islands between these two evolutionary lineages. Hyles tithymali is hypothesized to have been able to retain ancient polymorphisms until the present, whereas H. euphorbiae appears to have (re)colonized its current distribution range after the Ice Ages from a few (or even only one) refugial populations by leptokurtic dispersal, resulting in low diversity. The ISSR-PCR data showed much higher variability among individuals of the HEC than did mtDNA sequence data. They provided insights into the genomic distribution of the simple sequence repeat (GACA)4 and appear to describe a more complex pattern of introgression in the HEC. Our data revealed the HEC as a very young species complex, in which we have detected two distinct mitochondrial lineages, corresponding to H. tithymali (including the deserticola, mauretanica and himyarensis lineages) and H. euphorbiae (including H. robertsi), respectively.
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