@article{863b7630904e4be790f25804f21659cd,
title = "The evolution of alternative parasitic life histories in large blue butterflies",
abstract = "Large blue (Maculinea) butterflies are highly endangered throughout the Palaearctic region, and have been the focus of intense conservation research. In addition, their extraordinary parasitic lifestyles make them ideal for studies of life history evolution. Early instars consume flower buds of specific host plants, but later instars live in ant nests where they either devour the brood (predators), or are fed mouth-to-mouth by the adult ants (cuckoos). Here we present the phylogeny for the group, which shows that it is a monophyletic clade nested within Phengaris, a rare Oriental genus whose species have similar life histories. Cuckoo species are likely to have evolved from predatory ancestors. As early as five million years ago, two Maculinea clades diverged, leading to the different parasitic strategies seen in the genus today. Contrary to current belief, the two recognized cuckoo species show little genetic divergence and are probably a single ecologically differentiated species. On the other hand, some of the predatory morphospecies exhibit considerable genetic divergence and may contain cryptic species. These findings have important implications for conservation and reintroduction efforts.",
author = "Als, {Thomas D.} and Roger Vila and Kandul, {Nikolai P.} and Nash, {David R.} and Yen, {Shen Horn} and Hsu, {Yu Feng} and Mignault, {Andr{\'e} A.} and Boomsma, {Jacobus J.} and Pierce, {Naomi E.}",
note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements We thank S. Aoki, S. C. Collins, J. T. Costa, J. Dantart, A. V. Dantchenko, H. Deng, V. Dinca, K. Dunn, G. W. Elmes, K. Emura, E. Figurny-Puchalska, M. Goia, D. Hsu, H.-C. Huang, T. Inomata, Y.-J. Jang, J. L. Jean, J. Jubany, U. Kurosu, D. J. Lohman, V. A. Lukhtanov, T. Mizusawa, P. S. Nielsen, M. Owada, R. Rougerie, A. Shapiro, C. Stefanescu, H. Sugiyama, M. W. Tan, J. A. Thomas, M. A. Travassos, S. Viader, J. C. Wardlaw, S. Yamaguchi and D. Zitnan for providing material. D. K. Aanen, R. Eastwood, B. D. Farrell, G. E. Morse, D. B. Rand, J. A. Thomas, A. S. Sequeira and P. Villesen gave suggestions and comments, and P. Ackery allowed us to use images from the BMNH. Support for this research was provided by a National Science Foundation grant to N.E.P., a Danish Natural Science Research council grant to J.J.B., a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to R.V., grants from the Putnam Expeditionary Fund of the Museum of Comparative Zoology to N.E.P., N.P.K. and R.V., the Natural Conservation Foundation, Council of Agriculture and National Science Council, Taiwan, R.O.C. to Y.F.H., a PhD student fellowship from Harvard{\textquoteright}s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology to N.P.K., a PhD student fellowship from the University of Aarhus to T.D.A., and the EU RTD network {\textquoteleft}MacMan{\textquoteright}. Funding Information: Acknowledgements We thank R. Holmes and T. Sato of the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN), Ottawa, for advice, suggestions and access to their reference collections, and R. Holmes for reading earlier drafts and for editorial assistance. X.-c. W. was supported by research grants from the CMN.",
year = "2004",
month = nov,
day = "18",
doi = "10.1038/nature03020",
language = "English",
volume = "432",
pages = "386--390",
journal = "Nature",
issn = "0028-0836",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "7015",
}