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Pollen metabarcoding reveals the origin and multigenerational migratory pathway of an intercontinental-scale butterfly outbreak.

Author information

Affiliations

  • 1. Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB), CSIC-CMCNB, Barcelona 08038 Catalonia, Spain.
      Authors
    • Gorki JL 1
    • García-Berro A 1
    • Talavera G 1
    (3 authors)
  • 2. Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB), CSIC-CMCNB, Barcelona 08038 Catalonia, Spain; Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia (BABVE), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ES-08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain.
      Authors
    • López-Mañas R 2
    (1 author)
  • 3. Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia (BABVE), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ES-08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain; Systematics and Evolution of Vascular Plants (UAB)-Associated Unit to CSIC (IBB), Bellaterra, Spain.
      Authors
    • Sáez L 3
    (1 author)
  • 4. Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-Univ. Pompeu Fabra), 08003 Barcelona Catalonia, Spain.
      Authors
    • Menchetti M 4
    • Vila R 4
    (2 authors)
  • 5. Department of Karyosystematics, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia, 199034 Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
      Authors
    • Shapoval N 5
    (1 author)
    • Show all (14)

ORCIDs linked to this article

Current Biology : CB, 06 Jun 2024, 34(12):2684-2692.e6
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.037 PMID: 38848713 

Abstract 

Migratory insects may move in large numbers, even surpassing migratory vertebrates in biomass. Long-distance migratory insects complete annual cycles through multiple generations, with each generation's reproductive success linked to the resources available at different breeding grounds. Climatic anomalies in these grounds are presumed to trigger rapid population outbreaks. Here, we infer the origin and track the multigenerational path of a remarkable outbreak of painted lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies that took place at an intercontinental scale in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa from March 2019 to November 2019. Using metabarcoding, we identified pollen transported by 264 butterflies captured in 10 countries over 7 months and modeled the distribution of the 398 plants detected. The analysis showed that swarms collected in Eastern Europe in early spring originated in Arabia and the Middle East, coinciding with a positive anomaly in vegetation growth in the region from November 2018 to April 2019. From there, the swarms advanced to Northern Europe during late spring, followed by an early reversal toward southwestern Europe in summer. The pollen-based evidence matched spatiotemporal abundance peaks revealed by citizen science, which also suggested an echo effect of the outbreak in West Africa during September-November. Our results show that population outbreaks in a part of species' migratory ranges may disseminate demographic effects across multiple generations in a wide geographic area. This study represents an unprecedented effort to track a continuous multigenerational insect migration on an intercontinental scale.

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Read article at publisher's site: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.037

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