Patterns of geographical variation and phylogeography in Parnassius apollo: a preliminary analysis.

Parnassius apollo is a widely distibuted Eurasian butterfly usually represented by small local populations. It’s distributed on the main mountain ranges from the Sierra Nevada to Alps, Carpathians, Caucasus to the Altai. Being narrow in its ecological requirement this butterfly is very sensitive to habitat and climatic changes, and in most of its range it is experiencing range contraction and sometimes population extinction. We have sequenced 869 bp of the mithocondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I (COI) for 69 populations (N=142) from several portions of the range. Analysis revealed 55 haplotypes genetically structured in two major haplogroups; the study populations from Spain, Italy , Peloponnesus, Urali, Kirghizistan, Kazakistan, China and Turkish Armenia are included in a haplogroup, those from Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Bosnia, Albania, Greece and Anatolia are included in a second haplogroup. However, haplotypes from Spain are quite distinct from the rest of the first haplogroup. Compared to Parnassius mnemosyne, which shares a similar range with P. apollo, the last species appears less genetically structured and its evolutionary history and geographical dynamics more recently developed. Moreover, our results suggest a discordant dating in the periods of demographic range expansion of these two species, reflecting their different ecological requirement.