Abstract:Phylogeographic history of the Japanese alpine butterfly Erebia niphonica (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae): fragmentation and secondary contactThe authors chose Erebia niphonica that is one of alpine butter...Phylogeographic history of the Japanese alpine butterfly Erebia niphonica (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae): fragmentation and secondary contactThe authors chose Erebia niphonica that is one of alpine butterflies, and studied about the distribution change of alpine organisms in the Japanese islands during Quaternary.For molecular information, we studied the haplotypes of base sequences of 942 bp in total using ND5 gene (432 bp) and CO 1 gene (510 bp) of mitochondrial DNA.Samples are 425 individuals collected in various parts of Hokkaido and Honshu in the Japanese islands.We also checked 2 individuals each from Khangai Mountains in Mongolia and Amur region in Russia for reference.We inferred past historical events by analyzing the haplotypes by Nested Clade Phylogeographical Analysis (NCPA).As a result it has been suggested that Erebia niphonica group went through reproductive isolation in more than one refugia in Hokkaido and more than one in Honshu during warm interglacials, and they fragmented into different lineages within the Japanese islands.Also we specified the secondary contact points which support the NCPA analysis which inferred that range fragmentation and dispersal were repeated.Read More