Maculinea nausithous Exploits Myrmica scabrinodis in Transylvania: Unusual Host Ant Species of a Myrmecophilous Butterfly in an Isolated Region (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae; Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Maculinea nausi hous Exploi s My mica scab inodis in T ansyl ania: Unusual Hos An Species o a My mecophilous Bu e ly in an Isola ed Region (Lepidop e a: Lycaenidae; Hymenop e a: Fo micidae) by And ás Ta ally1, László Rákosy2, Tibo -Csaba Vizaue 3, Ma in Goia4, & Zol án Va ga1 ABSTRACT Isola ed popula ions o he my mecophilous Dusky La ge Blue bu e ly (Maculinea nausi hous) occu in T ansyl ania (Romania). The hi he o un- known hos an speci ici y o hese popula ions was in es iga ed a wo si es, whe e My mica scab inodis was he only po en ial hos an ound. A o al o 107 M. scab inodis nes s we e opened in ea ly summe o check o he p es- ence o M. nausi hous la ae, and wo o hem con ained o e win e ed la ae. Ou obse a ions sugges ha , like he habi a , he hos an o hese isola ed popula ions essen ially di e s om o he cen al Eu opean M. nausi hous popula ions s udied, which use exclusi ely My mica ub a. Keywo ds: hos speci ici y, local hos , Maculinea nausi hous, my mecoph- ily, My mica scab inodis, T ansyl ania INTRODUCTION La ae o Maculinea5 nausi hous (Be gs ässe ) a e obliga e social pa asi es o My mica La eille an nes s, a e de eloping on Sanguiso ba o icinalis L. hos plan (e.g. Thomas e al. 1989). The iden i ica ion o he local hos an species is no only c ucial o he conse a ion o his ulne able bu e ly (Mungui a & Ma ín 1999, Se ele e al. 2005, IUCN 2006), bu also because 1Depa men o E olu iona y Zoology and Human Biology, Uni e si y o Deb ecen, H-4032, Egye em é 1, Deb ecen, Hunga y ( a al[email p o ec ed]) 2Depa men o Taxonomy and Ecology, Babes-Bolyai Uni e si y, RO-3400, Clinicilo S ee 5-7, Cluj, Romania 3Council o Cluj Coun y, RO- 400124, B-dul 21 Decemb ie 1989, N . 58, Cluj, Romania 4RO-400451, Aleea Azuga, N . 9/32, Cluj, Romania 5Edi o 's no e: The e appea s o be a di e ence in he usage o his name. See Pech e al. 2008 in which he gene ic name Phenag is is used. 373 374 Sociobiology Vol. 51, No. 2, 2008 i can help shed ligh on he e olu ion o his ype o pa asi ic in e ac ion (Elmes e al. 1998, Als e al. 2004). M. nausi hous almos exclusi ely exploi s My mica ub a (Linnaeus) nes s in Eu ope (Thomas e al. 1989, Elmes e al. 1998, Ko b 1998, S ankiewicz & Sielezniew 2002, Als e al. 2004, Ta ally & Va ga 2005; Fig. 1). Howe e , Maculinea hos an speci ici y may a y be ween egions (e.g. Elmes e al. 1998), and M. nausi hous has some a he isola ed popula ions in T ansyl ania (Romania) (Rákosy & László y 1997; Fig. 1) ha di e somewha in habi a om o he M. nausi hous si es. The aim o his s udy was he e o e o in es iga e hos an use in hese isola ed popula ions. MATERIALS AND METHODS Only wo M. nausi hous si es a e known om T ansyl ania (Fig. 1). Bo h o hem a e in he Câmpia T ansil aniei egion, nea Cluj-Napoca: one a Răsc uci (N46°54', E 23°47' 485 m a.s.l.; exac locali ies a e no gi en o a oid exploi a ion), ano he a Fânaţele Clujului (N46°51', E23°37'; 540 m; mo e de ails o his si e a e gi en by Rákosy & László y 1997). Bo h si es a e Fig. 1. The dis ibu ion and hos an use o Maculinea nausi hous in and a ound he Ca pa hian-Basin. F: Fânaţele Clujului, R: Răsc uci ( he si es in es iga ed in his s udy), +: my mecologically in es iga ed (by A.T.) Sanguiso ba o icinalis–Maculinea eleius si es whe e M. scab inodis was eco ded, o: such si es whe e M. scab inodis was no eco ded (da a om Bálin 1996, Wynho 1998, ecen and unpublished da a; see also Ta ally & Va ga 2005: Fig. 3). 375 Ta ally, A. e al. — My mica scab inodis: Hos o Maculinea nausi hous semi-d y meadows wi h s eppe cha ac e , wi h spo adic small boggy dep es- sions (Fig. 2). S. o icinalis, he hos plan , occu s in a mosaic in hese small dep essions, c ea ing po en ial me apopula ion ne wo ks o M. nausi hous subpopula ions (e.g. Hanski 1999). Bo h known si es we e in es iga ed in his s udy, bu i should be no ed ha he Câmpia T ansil aniei egion is a he poo ly s udied, so ha occu ence o o he , as ye undisco e ed, M. nausi hous si es in he a ea is likely. To ob ain da a on hos speci ici y, My mica nes s wi hin 2 m o S. o icinalis hos plan s we e ca e ully opened (usually wi hou ull exca a ion, o mini- mize dis u bance) on bo h si es, and he p esence o absence o M. nausi hous la ae was eco ded. Nes s wi hin 2m o hos plan s we e chosen as his is he app oxima e o aging zone o My mica wo ke s, and nes s u he om he hos plan s a e unlikely o adop Maculinea la ae (Elmes e al. 1998). The in es iga ions we e om la e May o ea ly July 2002 and 2007, so ha all he eco ded la ae had spen he win e in hei hos nes s, su i ing one o he mos c i ical pe iods o he bu e ly (Elmes e al. 2004). In es iga ions we e Fig. 2: The si e a Răsc uci whe e Maculinea nausi hous la ae we e ound in My mica scab inodis nes s (pho o by L. Rákosy; compa e wi h Ta ally & Va ga 2005: Fig. 2, whe e M. nausi hous was ound wi h My mica ub a). 376 Sociobiology Vol. 51, No. 2, 2008 comple ed be o e he pupa ion pe iod in mid July, since M. eleius (Be gs ässe ) and M. alcon (Denis & Schi e mülle ) also de elop in he boggy dep essions (and M. a ion (Linnaeus) in he adjacen d ie pa ches a Fânaţele Clujului), and pupae o M. eleius and M. nausi hous a e a he simila (Śliwińska e al. 2006) which could esul in he con usion o hese wo syn opic species. Howe e , he iden i ica ion o Maculinea la ae is s aigh o wa d (Śliwińska e al. 2006). The numbe and species o Maculinea la ae ound was no ed a e de e mina ion using a 20x hand lens in he ield. Fi e o en wo ke s we e collec ed om each My mica nes opened, and we e p ese ed in 67 % e hanol o iden i ica ion in he labo a o y (using keys in Sei e 1988). RESULTS A o al o 107 My mica nes s we e ound wi hin 2 m om he S. o icina- lis hos plan s a he wo si es (58 a Fânaţele Clujului and 49 a Răsc uci), and checked o Maculinea la ae. All 107 nes s p o ed o be M. scab inodis Nylande . Two nes s om Răsc uci we e in es ed by M. nausi hous, bo h o hem con aining only a single M. nausi hous la a. La ae o M. alcon and M. eleius we e also ound in M. scab inodis nes s du ing ou su ey (A. Ta ally, unpublished da a), which is no su p ising since M. scab inodis is a common hos an o bo h bu e lies ( o a e iew: Elmes e al. 1998, Als e al. 2004). One o he wo nes s in es ed by M. nausi hous also con ained a M. eleius la a. DISCUSSION To ou knowledge, his is he i s s udy o p o ide da a on he hos an use o M. nausi hous in T ansyl ania. The use o M. scab inodis as a hos an by M. nausi hous is, on he one hand, no su p ising, since his was he only My mica an species ound in he icini y o he ini ial la al hos plan , while on he o he hand being highly unusual, as his bu e ly is ound almos exclusi ely in nes s o My mica ub a in o he pa s o i s ange (Thomas e al. 1989, Elmes e al. 1998, Ko b 1998, S ankiewicz & Sielezniew 2002, Ta ally & Va ga 2005 and M. Wi ek, pe s. comm.). Al hough My mica ub a occu s in T ansyl ania, whe e i is connec ed wi h damp o es ed habi a s in he eas e n pa o he Ca pa hian-Basin, his an is no known om he si es in es iga ed he e, despi e ex ensi e su eys by local my mecologis s (B. 377 Ta ally, A. e al. — My mica scab inodis: Hos o Maculinea nausi hous Ma kó, pe s. comm.). O he My mica species (M. hellenica Finzi, M. sabule i Meine , M. schencki Vie eck, and M. specioides Bond oi ) ha e been eco ded om he d ie pa ches (Ma kó 1998, Ma kó & Csősz 2001; B. Ma kó, pe s. comm.; A. Ta ally, pe s. obse .), bu only M. scab inodis is known om he boggy dep essions whe e M. nausi hous can lay eggs on S. o icinalis. Thomas e al. (2005) p o ide some wa nings and guidelines abou eco ding hos an use in Maculinea bu e lies, and al hough he sample o in es ed nes s ha we ound was small, we belie e ha he comp ehensi e su ey ha we made o he My mica auna on he in es iga ed si es means ha hese eco ds ep esen genuine specializa ion. The a e o pa asi ism o M. scab inodis nes s ha we ound was low (1.9% o nes s in es iga ed o e all, 4.1% o nes s a Răsc uci), which is an o de o magni ude lowe han pa asi ism a es p e iously eco ded o M. nausi - hous (S ankiewicz & Sielezniew 2002, Ta ally & Va ga 2005, A. Ta ally, unpublished da a; Mean pa asi ism a e o o he s udies = 44.9%; GLM wi h Binomial E o s: c2 = 56.79, d. . = 3, p <0.0001). I he M. nausi hous popula ions one hese si es pe sis as a local me apopula ion, hen high a i- ance in pa asi ism a es be ween sub-popula ions migh be expec ed, so he signi icance o he low pa asi ism a e awai s u he in es iga ion. Ou eco ds a e no he i s o M. nausi hous exploi ing M. scab inodis, since Mungui a & Ma ín (1999) epo his an as a M. nausi hous hos om Spain. Howe e , apa om his one eco d, his widesp ead My mica species has no been eco ded as a hos o M. nausi hous on he o he Eu opean si es s udied (al hough M. scab inodis is o en common on hose si es), whe e M. ub a is used exclusi ely (Thomas e al. 1989, Elmes e al. 1998, Ko b 1998, S ankiewicz & Sielezniew 2002, Ta ally & Va ga 2005; see Fig. 1). In e es - ingly M. nausi hous occu s only in wes e n pa s o Hunga y whe e M. ub a is common on S. o icinalis si es, bu his bu e ly does no occu in cen al and eas e n pa s o Hunga y whe e M. ub a is a e o missing om such si es. Howe e , M. scab inodis is common in mos o he Hunga ian S. o icinalis si es in es iga ed (Fig. 1). Hence, i is an open ques ion as o why he eas - e n Hunga ian S. o icinalis si es a e no colonised om T ansyl ania by M. scab inodis using M. nausi hous. One eason could be ha he high moun ains o Mun ii Apuseni a e ba ie s o he isola ed T ansyl anian M. nausi hous popula ions ha inhibi sp ead o eas e n Hunga y. Ano he possible explana- 378 Sociobiology Vol. 51, No. 2, 2008 ion is ha M. eleius and M. alcon popula ions a e in compe i ion wi h M. nausi hous in eas e n Hunga y h ough hei common use o M. scab inodis as hei p ima y hos an (Ta ally & Csősz 2004, Ta ally & Va ga 2005; A. Ta ally, unpublished da a). In e es ingly M. nausi hous does no occu a Şa du (in a hilly egion a he wes e n bo de o he T ansyl anian-Basin; N46°52’, E23°24’; 480 m; he eas e nmos “+” on Fig. 1) whe e a po en ial M. nausi hous si e is known nea o he Câmpia T ansil aniei egion, wi h high densi ies o S. o icinalis and M. scab inodis (A. Ta ally, unpublished da a). This si e is, howe e , used by M. eleius and M. alcon (bo h bu e lies exploi M. scab inodis and M. andeli Bond oi o hos an ; A. Ta ally, unpublished da a), and appea s mo e simila o he cen al and wes e n Eu- opean M. nausi hous si es (wi h bushy o es edges; see: Ta ally & Va ga 2005: Fig. 2) han he si es in es iga ed in he Câmpia T ansil aniei egion (which a e meadows wi h some isola ed bushes; Fig. 2). All hese ac s sug- ges ha he T ansyl anian M. nausi hous popula ions ep esen a speci ic li e o m ha needs u he in es iga ion and p o ec ion. The acu eness o his ask is unde lined by he low densi y o hese popula ions. 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