4 recent Limenitis papers + collecting

[Sean Mullen]

Folks,

Several things.  First, I wanted to draw everyone's attention to  
several recent manuscripts that have been published on North American  
Limenitis.  The first is by Katy Prudic and Jeff Oliver in the  
Proceedings of the Royal Society that examines the question of whether  
mimicry was lost in the L. a. arthemis-astyanax complex.  The timing  
of that paper is fortuitous because I just published a paper  
addressing patterns of population structure and gene flow in this same  
complex in the journal Evolution.

This latter manuscript is available on my website: http://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/faculty/mullen.html 
    ...thanks to all those who helped with specimens!

I also recently had an additional manuscript accepted for publication  
at Evolution, in collaboration with Dr. Leslie Ries at the University  
of Maryland,  examining the influence of model frequency on the  
fitness of the mimetic vs. non-mimetic phenotype in the White Admiral/ 
RSP complex.  That article has been published online as "accepted" at  
Evolution but the corrected proofs are not yet available.  However, I  
have a pdf of the uncorrected proof for anyone who'd like to take a  
sneak peek...just drop me an email.

Finally, early this year Adriana Brisco's lab  published a paper on  
Limenitis Opsin evolution in PNAS.  Clearly, the group is generating a  
lot of interest, and I'm hoping to publish a well-resolved AFLP  
phylogeny of the the North American forms  later this year.

I also have a request.  I've been very interested in extending my work  
to include a detailed genetic investigation of species boundaries and  
gene flow between L. weidemeyerii and L. lorquini.  Both of these  
forms also hybridize with L. a. rubrofasciata in regions of Canada,  
and I'm interested in sampling these two "species" from as many  
locations as possible.

If anyone is interested in helping out, the requirements are quite  
simply.  First, catch the butterflies:).  Second, drop them in a  
glassine envelope with the following info:  Date, Location, Species  
I.D., and Collector's Name.  Third, mail them to me at the address  
below.  If anyone needs reimbursement for postage, I'd be glad to take  
care of the cost of shipping them...which should be negligible.

Finally, I would also be interested in hearing from those of you on  
the west coast about when these butterflies are on the wing.  I may  
try to slip in a collecting trip sometime this summer and I would  
welcome the company of anyone familiar with good localities.

Best wishes and enjoy the upcoming field season!

Sean






Dr. Sean P. Mullen

Assistant Professor of Evolutionary Biology

Department of Biological Sciences
D216 Iaccoca Hall
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA 18015

Email: sem307 at lehigh.edu
Phone: 1.610.758.5569



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