2017 Volume 68 Issue 2 Pages 46-52
Molecular phylogenetic relationships of African swallow-tail butterflies Papilio dardanus, P. phorcas, P. nireus, and P. demodocus to Japanese papilionid butterflies were analyzed through DNA sequences of mitochondrial ND5, COI, and COII genes and are discussed. In addition to 10 butterfly species’ sequence data obtained in this study, other sequence data of the ND5, COI, and COII genes from 20 Papilio species was taken from database (NCBI) to construct a phylogenetic tree of Papilio. In particular, we have paid attention to the origin of Batesian mimicry of butterflies in both African and oriental (including Japan) regions. The main points of our results are as follows. (1) The African mimetic butterfly species P. dardanus and P. phorcas showed a sister relationship, but have no closely related species of the genus Papilio in Japan. (2) There was no Japanese species with a clear relationship to the African butterfly P. nireus, even though it showed a sister relationship to P. oribazus and P. epiphorbas, which are found in Madagascar. (3) The African butterfly P. demodocus showed a close relationship to an oriental species, P. demoleus with strong support, suggesting that these two species recently diverged from a common origin. This result is consistent with that analyzed by use of the COI, COII, and EF-1α genes (Zakharov et al., 2004). (4) The phylogenetic relationships of the mimetic species P. protenor, P. macilentus, P. polytes, and P. memnon were resolved well, a different result from that reached with lower support by Zakharov et al. (2004). This result suggests that the mimicry in both sexes of P. protenor and P. macilentus is closely related to the female-limited mimicry of P. polytes and P. memnon. (5) A sister relationship between P. glaucus and P. clytia was suggested with strong support.
