Biology subjects

Boggs, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Boggs, C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Age-specific and Sex-specific Nectar and Pollen Use by a Butterfly Pollinator

Age-specific patterns of nectar and pollen use by insect pollinators may reflect behavioral or physiological changes over the insects lifespan, and may also influence flower visitation rate. Studying Heliconius charithonia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) and Psiguria umbrosa (Cucurbitaceae), we showed that honey-water (as a nectar substitute) intake increases over the first ten to twelve days of females life, while decreasing over the same age period for males, when individuals were fed ad libitum. Intake then remains stable at least through 28 days of age. Mean intake is higher for females than for males, and is not significantly affected by body size. Intake patterns for honey-water and pollen did not change with age in a similar manner. Pollen feeding increased significantly with age for both sexes, with females showing a two week delay in the increase when studied in a free-flying greenhouse population with competition for pollen. Under both ad libitum and pollen competition conditions, females collected more pollen than did males. Body size did not significantly affect the amount of pollen collected for either sex. Within each sex, butterflies with ad libitum pollen collected more pollen than those in a free-flying greenhouse population with more restricted pollen availability. These results suggest that two resources obtained from the same source, pollen and nectar, are not treated identically by the insect pollinator, and that the demography of the insect population may affect flower visitation rates in some cases. Further, foraging patterns for pollen and nectar are likely driven by physiological demand for different resource types.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2017

A butterfly chromonome reveals selection dynamics during extensive and cryptic chromosomal reshuffling

Chromosome evolution, an important component of mico- and macroevolutionary dynamics 1-5, presents an enigma in the mega-diverse Lepidoptera6. While most species exhibit constrained chromosome evolution, with nearly identical haploid chromosome counts and chromosome-level shared gene content and collinearity among species despite more than 140 Million years of divergence7, a small fraction of species independently exhibit dramatic changes in chromosomal count due to extensive fission and fusion events that are facilitated by their holocentric chromosomes7-9. Here we address this enigma of simultaneous conservation and dynamism in chromosome evolution in our analysis of the chromonome (chromosome level assembly10) of the green-veined white butterfly, Pieris napi (Pieridae, Linnaeus, 1758). We report an unprecedented reorganization of the standard Lepidopteran chromosome structure via more than 90 fission and fusion events that are cryptic at other scales, as the haploid chromosome number is identical to related genera and gene collinearity within the large rearranged segments matches other Lepidoptera. Furthermore, these rearranged segments are significantly enriched for clusters of functionally related genes and the maintenance of ancient telomeric ends. These results suggest an unexpected role for selection in shaping chromosomal evolution when the structural constraints of monocentricq chromosomes are relaxed.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Structure and function of the bacterial and fungal gut flora of Neotropical butterflies

The relationship between animals and their gut flora is simultaneously one of the most common and most complex symbioses on Earth. Despite its ubiquity, our understanding of this invisible but often critical relationship is still in its infancy. We employed adult Neotropical butterflies as a study system to ask three questions: First, how does gut microbial community composition vary across host individuals, species and dietary guilds? Second, how do gut flora compare to food microbial communities? Finally, are gut flora functionally adapted to the chemical makeup of host foods? To answer these questions we captured nearly 300 Costa Rican butterflies representing over 50 species, six families and two feeding guilds: frugivores and nectivores. We characterized the bacteria and fungi in guts, wild fruits and wild nectars via amplicon sequencing and assessed the catabolic abilities of the gut flora via culture-based assays.\n\nGut communities were distinct from food communities, suggesting that the gut environment acts as a strong filter on potential colonists. Nevertheless, gut flora varied widely among individuals and species. On average, a pair of butterflies shared 21% of their bacterial species and 6% of their fungi. Host species explained 25-30% of total variation in microbial communities while host diet explained 4%. However, diet was still relevant at the individual microbe level--half of the most abundant microbial species differed in abundance between frugivores and nectivores. Diet was also related to the functional profile of gut flora: compared to frugivores, nectivores gut flora exhibited increased catabolism of sugars and sugar alcohols and decreased catabolism of amino acids, carboxylic acids and dicarboxylic acids. Since fermented juice contains more amino acids and less sugar than nectar, it appears that host diet filters the gut flora by favoring microbes that digest compounds abundant in foods.\n\nBy quantifying the degree to which gut communities vary among host individuals, species and dietary guilds and evaluating how gut microbial composition and catabolic potential are related to host diet, this study deepens our understanding of the structure and function of one of the most complex and ubiquitous symbioses in the animal kingdom.

ecology↗