Earthquake in Taiwan led to the extinction of a butterfly species
Published: Tuesday, Dec 17th 2024, 08:00
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The swallowtail is a butterfly species also known in Switzerland. There were two of its subspecies in Taiwan. A devastating earthquake in 1999 may have led to their extinction, according to researchers.
This is probably the "first documented case of a butterfly dying out after an earthquake", reports a team of researchers led by biologist Valentina Todisco from the University of Salzburg in the journal "PLOS One".
The subspecies Papilio machaon sylvina, which only occurred on the main island of Taiwan, was described by Japanese scientists in 1930. The butterfly was endemic to the central mountain range of Taiwan, and only in small areas mainly at altitudes between 1000 and 2500 meters above sea level. There, the caterpillars of the butterfly fed exclusively on hair-strand plants, a species of umbellifer. The butterfly is an important symbol of Taiwan and adorns the identity cards of Taiwanese citizens, for example.
Earthquake permanently changed landscape
On September 21, 1999, a severe earthquake struck Taiwan, killing more than 2,400 people and injuring around 11,000. This so-called "Jiji earthquake" also led to numerous landslides in the habitat of the swallowtail subspecies, which permanently changed the landscape in many parts of the island. According to the researchers, the butterflies were in the pupal stage at the time of the earthquakes, attached to the host plants, which were completely buried by the landslides.
"Since then, Papilio machaon sylvina has not been sighted despite intensive searches, although its host plant is still present in the areas where it used to be common," Todisco told the Austrian news agency APA. The species is therefore considered to be extinct.
In their work, the scientists also refer to the swallowtail species Papilio aristodemus ponceanus, which is endangered by the frequent hurricanes on the Florida Keys archipelago. Apart from this, there are hardly any other examples of butterflies being threatened by natural disasters.
Development into an independent species
Apart from its fate, there are still many unanswered questions about the swallowtail species, such as its taxonomic status and its genetic relationship with other populations. The first author of the current study, Vazrick Nazari from the Italian University of Padua, and his colleagues therefore investigated the genetic characteristics of Papilio machaon sylvina using museum specimens and compared them with the subspecies Papilio machaon schantungensis from the Matsu Islands, which belong to Taiwan.
The two subspecies differ not only in their size, color, patterning and genitalia. Their caterpillars also feed on different host plants. These differences and the life history of Papilio machaon sylvina, which is linked to the climatic and geographical changes in Taiwan, would make it clear that this population was "well on the way to developing into an independent species".
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310318
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