Overwintering of the boreal butterfly Colias palaeno in central Europe
Language English Country England, Great Britain Media print
Document type Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PubMed
24997843
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- MeSH
- Acclimatization * MeSH
- Ecosystem MeSH
- Glucose metabolism MeSH
- Glycerol metabolism MeSH
- Cryoprotective Agents metabolism MeSH
- Larva physiology MeSH
- Butterflies physiology MeSH
- Cold Temperature MeSH
- Trehalose metabolism MeSH
- Freezing MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Europe MeSH
- Names of Substances
- Glucose MeSH
- Glycerol MeSH
- Cryoprotective Agents MeSH
- Trehalose MeSH
BACKGROUND: Colias palaeno (Linnaeus, 1761) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) is a butterfly with boreal distribution with declining populations in peat bogs and subalpine habitats in Central Europe. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the cold tolerance of overwintering caterpillars from one mountain population from Czech Republic (960m a.s.l.) and one alpine population from Italy (2000m a.s.l.). METHODS: We measured supercooling point (SCP), lower lethal temperature (LLT) and content of cryoprotectants. RESULTS: The caterpillars were freeze-avoiding, with lower LLT close to their very low SCP (-25 to -27 degree C). The mountain population accumulated high concentrations of glycerol (5% fresh mass) and sugars (trehalose 0.8%, glucose 0.2%), while the Italian alpine population only moderate amounts of glycerol (0.3%) and sugars (trehalose 0.5%, glucose 0.3%) without effect on their cold hardiness. Larvae that overwintered at +5 degree C had a lower body mass than those overwintering in natural conditions, indicating a metabolic weight loss, but both groups survived equally well. CONCLUSION: We hypothesize that the high concentration of glycerol contributes to the high desiccation tolerance.
Buro Geyer und Dolek Worthsee Germany
Department of Life Science and System Biology University of Turin Torino Italy
Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
