Viceroys and Red-spotted Admirals

[Sean Patrick Mullen]

I apologize for cross-posting but I'm trying to reach as broad an 
audience as possible.  Please forward this email to individuals you 
feel may be interested in helping out.

As many of you may know, I am working the the intraspecific (within 
species) genetic population structure of Limenitis arthemis (what is 
currently referred to as the "Red-spotted Admrial") and Limenitis 
archippus (The viceroy and its many subspecies).

Thanks largely to the help of individuals on Leps-List, I was able to 
obtain a fairly good geographic sample of L. arthemis last year but a 
few holes remain and I need L. archippus from just about everywhere.

So, why should you all want to help.  The main reason is that these 
are really gorgeous butterflies that are a blast to catch.  A more 
scientific reason is that I'm finding some really interesting 
population structure in both of these species.  I plan to present my 
phylogeography study of L. arthemis this summer at both LepSoc and 
the Evolution meetings but I'll give you a bit of a preview to wet 
your appetites.

Limenits arthemis, the "Red-spotted Admiral", has a huge geographic 
range extending from Alaska south across the Canadian plains and 
downward through the Great Lakes and New England.  This "species" 
occurs as far south as northern Florida and a disjunct, allopatric, 
population is found in New Mexico, Arizona, parts of Texas, and 
northern Mexico.   My initial work has found a deep divergence 
between southern Red-spotted Purple forms west of the Appalachian 
Mountains and more northern Red-spotted Admirals.  My current working 
hypothesis is that population expansion from glacial refugia has 
dominated the biogeography of the northern white-banded forms. 
Ongoing hybridization across New England has led to more 
introgression of northern mitochondrial haplotypes east of the 
Appalachians on the Atlantic coastal plain states.  In addition, the 
few specimens I have from Arizona, while clearly related to the 
southern clade, represent a very distinct mtDNA lineage. I won't go 
into the Viceroy results because I don't have enough data yet to make 
any definite conclusions.

So, if you're interested in helping out let me know.  I happily 
supply 2-ml vials with ethanol and glassine envelopes to all 
interested parties and 3-5 individuals from any given locality is 
sufficient for my needs...although larger population samples are also 
very useful.  In terms of geography, I need samples from the southern 
coastal states (Florida, Georgia, NC, SC, VA, etc.) and the Canadian 
provinces with the exception of Alberta (although I wouldn't turn any 
sample down). Additional samples from regions south of the Great 
lakes would also help (Iowa, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
Alabama, Illinois, or Indiana...I have samples from Arkansas and 
Kentucky ). I only have 4 individuals from the southwestern 
populations, so samples from that region would be welcome too. 
Viceroys, I need from everywhere:).

Hmm, I sounds like I need them from everywhere doesn't it!  I have a 
fairly broad scale sample but I'd like to improve the resolution to 
more clearly delineate the boundaries of major mitochondrial lineages 
within this putative species.  Well, I've rambled on for long enough 
I guess.  It may be weeks to months before you see these butterflies, 
depending on where in North America you reside but I wanted to put 
out this request in advance so that I would have time to mail 
volunteers the appropriate storage materials.  Thanks for hearing me 
out.


Sean

P.S.- For those curious, I'm a grad student at Cornell University and 
these specimens will be used as part of my dissertation research. 
I'm glad to answer any questions via private email.
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