Ask An Expert: Hybrid Introgression and BC Butterflies

Biodiversity and genetic diversity are influenced by many factors...

Question

What is hybrid introgression and does it occur in butterflies?

Answer (by Cris Guppy)

Hybrid introgression is the introduction of genes from the gene pool of one species into that of another, when the two species interbreed and produce offspring (hybridization) that are fertile, and the hybrid offspring continue to interbreed with one of the species.  An interesting case of hybrid introgression is the Propertius Duskywing butterfly (Erynnis propertius).  The overall range is the west coast of North America from San Diego north to central Vancouver Island, and DNA testing has found that the DNA is reasonably similar over that entire range (except for some subspecies-level variation).  However, populations from southern Vancouver Island and Puget Sound have two gene structures with about a 5% difference -- which is usually a large enough difference to indicate that two species are present. One gene structure matches the rest of the Propertius Duskywing and one matches Horace's Duskywing (E. horatius) of eastern North America.  At some undetermined time in the past, the range of the two species touched in the Puget Sound area, and they hybridized without merging into one species. The  range of Horace's Duskywing then retreated to east of the Rockies, but left behind some of its genetic material in the Propertius Duskywing gene pool.  The wing patterns and genitalia structure of the Propertius Duskywing all look the same, so the past hybridization is only detectable through DNA analysis. Quite cool!

Visit the E-Fauna BC atlas pages to learn about BC butterflies.
Read the E-Fauna BC Introduction to the Butterflies by Cris Guppy. 

Cris Guppy is a wildlife biologist and butterfly researcher based in the Yukon. He is co-author (with Jon Shepard) of Butterflies of British Columbia and is the butterfly advisor and butterfly photo reviewer on E-Fauna BC.  

Ask An Expert: Tidal Pools

Question

I was on the rocky shore to the west of Kits beach (down the steps at the end of Trutch Street) and I noticed that there is very little life in the tide pools other than algae and mussels. I didn't see any snails or hermit crabs at all. Is this natural for this area or have the snails, hermit crabs and other littoral zone life been killed by pollution?

Thank you,

Bob

3/4/14

Answer (by Tom Carefoot)

The beach in question is part of a sandstone outcropping that extends from the Alma Street area eastwards.  It is characterised by shallow depressions with loose rocks (and other "moveable objects").  There is nothing wrong with the water quality in the area, and further east the shore becomes quite rich with intertidal flora and fauna.  Still, with rocks and sediments moving in the waves, there is little chance of anything delicate surviving on the Trutch-street beach, and hermit crabs and crabs in general would also not like the shifting substratum.  As you note, shells would likely be a resource in short supply for any would-be hermit-crab colonisers.  You may have noticed at least a few winkles Littorina spp. higher up on the shore, but the larger dogwhelks Nucella lamellosa, whose shells would be of a more suitable habitable size than those of winkles, are absent from most Vancouver shores.  They used to be extremely common in the Harbour side of Stanley Park, but tributyltin present in the water likely killed them off.  You may know that this latter, a component of older anti-fouling paints, and quite effective in preventing barnacles and such from settling, is now banned from inshore waters of most countries in the world.  Its problem, discovered only in the 1980s, was that it created a condition in whelks known as imposex.  This refers to the masculinisation of females, or imposition of maleness in the females leading, within a few generations, to total sterilisation of a population.  I haven't been down to the Park to check on them for several years, so a visit to the beach near the HMCS Discovery site might be something useful to do.  The winkles mentioned above comprise two common species Littorina scutulata and L. sitkana.  These are high-intertidal dwelling herbivorous species, sometimes even supratidal, and are too small to eat (winkle-"picking" is a respectable profession on Atlantic shores and in Europe).  However, thanks probably to release by winkle-eaters who can purchase live east-coast Littorina littorea from several seafood-supply stores in Vancouver, this much larger and quite tasty species can now be found on some local Vancouver beaches.   It lives in the intertidal zone, much lower than the indigenous species just mentioned, and (should you be wondering) is unlikely to enter into direct competition with them.  Well, you probably have much more information here than you really wanted, but it's easy to ramble on about topics dealing with marine invertebrates.

If you have the inclination, you can get more information on imposex on A Snails Odyssey website.

Also, you can read more about littorines & relatives on A Snail's Odyssey. The information presented there mainly relates to information published by Dr. Chris Harley of the University of British Columbia who, along with his students, first noticed the presence of L. littorea on local beaches.

Tom Carefoot is Professor Emeritus, Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia and is also the author of A Snail's Odyssey, a comprehensive, research-based site dedicated to marine invertebrates.  Tom is a frequent contributor to E-Fauna BC.  

Atlas News: Our Maps

The maps on E-Flora and E-Fauna bc will be unavailable for a few days while the software licenses are updated.  They should be available early next week.

Half a Million Visits a Year: Our Regional Atlases Reach an International Audience

The numbers are now in! Our regional atlases of BC's flora and fauna--E-Flora BC and E-Fauna BC--are now drawing more than half a million visits a year!  Most of our visitors are from Canada, and the US, but there are many other countries represented. Many visitors are accessing the home page and searching for species information from there (~300,000) but a large number go directly to a species atlas page (400,000).   Based on the comments and inquiries we receive, our users include researchers, schools/students, government, conservation groups, and the general public.

The most popular group in the atlases?  Spiders!  The interest in spiders is high and everyone wants to know about Brown Recluse spiders (not found in BC), Black Widow Spiders and the Giant House Spider.  But, based on feedback, visitors are also keen on freshwater crustaceans, big furry wildlife (bears, wolves and cougars), and marine invertebrates (shorelines and tidal pool creataures).  In the plant world, listed species and invasive species are the big attractors. The photo galleries on both sites are heavily used by visitors aiming to identify what they've found.

Our blog is drawing a lot of interest, too, with up to 3000 visitors per month.  The most popular blog posts are, of course, spiders.  Robb Bennett's insights into our BC spiders are always a hit, but Tom Carefoot's blog posts on 'things marine' attract lots of visitors too. There is also a lot of interest in Ian Gardiner's finds in freshwater lakes in BC: the fairy shrimp, brine shrimp and water fleas. 

Interesting Facts:

The highest number of visitors to our blog in one day?  3897.

Most commonly used browser?  Firefox, followed by Chrome. The use of mobile devices and associated browsers is growing and now representing 10% of our visitors consistently.

Most frequently used search word?  Spiders and Brown Recluse Spiders.

Top Ten Countries Accessing the sites, in descending order: Canada, US, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, France, Latvia, UK, Poland.

Operating systems used, in descending order: Windows (59%), Macintosh (15%), iPhone (10%), iPad (4%), iPod (1%).

First Pages of the new Vascular Flora of British Columbia Now Available on E-Flora BC: Primulaceae and Myrsinaceae

 Hardy Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium), photo by Hans Roemer

A new vascular flora of British Columbia is now in preparation and the first new family treatments for Primulaceae and Myrsinaceae and associated genera and species, in draft form, have been posted on the E-Flora BC atlas pages. This text replaces the previous text for these two families on E-Flora BC which was taken from the Illustrated Flora of British Columbia (1998-2004) and which is now outdated.  The new family treatments are authored by UBC taxonomist Jamie Fenneman, lead author and editor of the project. 

The new vascular flora project is a joint iniative between the Royal British Columbia Museum and the University of British Columbia Herbarium and is anticipated to take several years to reach completion. The newly posted text is the first 'pilot' step in making the new flora available digitally.  More new treatments will be posted on E-Flora BC as they become available.

In tthe new treatments, Primulaceae has been split into two families:  1) Primulaceae, which now includes the following genera: Androsace, Dodecatheon, Douglasia, Primula 2) Myrsinaceae, which includes the following genera: Anagallis, Cyclamen, Glaux, Lysimachia, Steironema, Trientalis.  

The vascular flora of BC treatments encompass nomenclatural changes (including splits), as well as species additions and deletions to the BC flora.  One interesting addition is Cyclamen hederifolium, an introduced species which has naturalized in the Victoria area.  Jamie provides the following insight into this escaped garden species: "This species blooms in the fall, with the flowers appearing before the leaves, and the leaves persist through the winter and into the following spring. Although reasonably common in the Victoria area, this popular garden species is apparently not naturalized anywhere else in North America." 

In April, Jamie will provide more insight into the new vascular flora of BC project.

Jamie Fenneman is a PhD student in botany at the University of British Columbia, and is co-coordinator of E-Flora BC and E-Fauna BC. He has contributed numerous photos to both sites as well as introductory text on taxnonomy on E-Flora and a series of bird checklists on E-Fauna BC. Read his Introduction to Taxonomy here.

Citizen Science at Work: Dun Skipper (Euphyes vestris) in Port Alberni, BC

Dun Skipper (Euphyes vestris), photo by Rick and Libby Avis

Thanks to the photo submissions of entomologists Rick and Libby Avis to E-Fauna BC, more is now known about the range  of the Dun Skipper (Euphyes vestris) in BC.  Photo records take by Libby and Rick in July 2011 document the species presence in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island.  Butterfly specialist Cris Guppy says: "[the] Dun Skipper record from Port Alberni is interesting -- it is a considerable extension of the Vancouver Island range." He adds: "Of course the range of the butterfly has probably not expanded, just our knowledge of the range."

In their book The Butterflies of British Columbia, Guppy and co-author Jon Shepard say:   "The Dun Skipper is known from southern Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, and the Fraser River canyon upstream to Lillooet. Except for the Lillooet population the species has been encountered only as single individuals in mesic grassy areas, often along old railway right-of-ways.  The single Lillooet observation was at a spring surrounded by an extremely xeric area.  The spring area had enough sedge to support a population of Dun Skipper."  

The important role of citizen scientists in the collection of biodiversity data can't be overstated. Photo record contributors to E-Fauna BC and E-Flora BC have frequently added new range information about BC wild species and, in some cases, new species have been added to the flora or fauna.

Read the E-Fauna atlas page for the Dun Skipper here. 

View the Dun Skipper photo gallery on E-Fauna BC here. 

Visit Rick and Libby's photo gallery on E-Fauna here. 

Michael Beug: E-Flora BC's New Fungi Photo Editor

 

 Fly amanita (Amanita muscaria), photo by Michael Beug

This past weekend, Michael Beug, co-author of the soon-to-be-published Ascomycete Fungi of North America and Professor Emeritus at The Evergreen State College (Washington State), took on an expanded role in E-Flora BC.  Until now, Michael was one of our fungi photo reviewers, and also prepared our introduction to macrofungi on E-Flora BC--The Macrofungi of British Columbia. Now, though, Michael has taken on the role of Fungi Photo Editor.  Michael joins mycologist Ian Gibson of Victoria in developing our macrofungi section on E-Flora BC.  While Ian develops the macrofungi species list, and provides descriptive text for each species for our atlas pages, Michael will handle all fungi photos on the atlas.

Within the first few hours of taking on his new role, Michael began work reviewing all of the photos in our fungi photo gallery, double checking identifications and choosing the best photo of a species as an illustration.  That is, good fungi shots that also show key characteristics of a species. 

Michael has an impressive resume. At The Evergreen State College in Washington he taught chemistry, mycology and organic farming for 32 years.   Retired now, he continues to lecture and hold mushroom workshops.  He is very involved with the North American Mycological Association (NAMA), where serves as Editor of the Journal McIlvainea, Chair of the Toxicology Committee, and is a member of the Education Committee.  Significantly, he is currently Vice President and has served four terms as President of The Pacific Northwest Key Council, a group focused on the taxonomy and identification of fungi.  Michael is also a co-author of MatchMaker, with Ian Gibson, Drew Parker, Danny Miller, Eli Gibson, and Bryce Kendrick. Matchmaker is a free mushroom identification tool that covers mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.  

E-Flora BC focuses on macrofungi, the mushrooms, which is a very large group in BC.  In his introduction to the macrofungi, Michael says: 

"There are over 1600 species of macrofungi recorded from British Columbia. There are hundreds of additional named species found in the Pacific Northwest but not yet recorded from B.C. that are likely to turn up when people start looking for them. In addition, there are numerous species, probably one to three thousand or more, present in B. C. but not yet named or still waiting to catch the eye of someone who will recognize the mushroom as new to science. All of this brings the probable number of mushroom species in British Columbia to somewhere on the order of 5,000 species, possibly even 10,000 species."

One paragraph in Michael's introduction to the macrofungi of BC sums up his view of fungi and fungi in BC.

"In October of 2008, Dr. Joe Ammirati asked me to see if I could find any species of Cortinarius associated with Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana). I checked the literature but found none reported. However, in the following month I found 10 to 20 new species under the Oregon White Oak of the Columbia River Gorge. I found only one species that had previously been named and it was only reported from California. One Cortinarius I found was beautiful mustard yellow, another had gorgeous lilac tones, one had a spectacular fluorescence under UV light and one turned a striking bright pink when treated with potassium hydroxide. These were all big beautiful mushrooms with striking features. How had they gone undiscovered for so long? How many more new species are under the oaks of Southwestern British Columbia? For that matter, how many new species lurk undiscovered in all of British Columbia (some of the Cortinarius species I have found in Washington have also been found near Victoria, B.C. and are now in the process of getting names) – I will bet that there are still several thousand beautiful and interesting fungi waiting somewhere to be discovered and then studied and named. It is an exciting field open to anyone with an enquiring mind. I myself started off as a toadstool kicker, generally oblivious to mushrooms. A friend gave me some morels that led first to a memorable meal and then to a lifetime of discovery."

Michael lives in a remote area of Washington State, with a view of Mount Hood, and a half a mile long driveway.  

Here is a small selection of Michael's fungi photos:

Calocera viscosa (no common name), photos by Michael Beug

 Fairy fingers (Clavaria vermicularis), photo by Michael Beug

 Shaggy mane (Coprinus comatus), photo by Michael Beug

Read Michael's article on The Macrofungi of British Columbia here.

Michael has more than 1200 photos on E-Flora BC. View his photo gallery here. 
Visit Matchmaker, a free identification site for the mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.