The multiple roles of caudal in early development of the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus.

The homeobox transcription factor Caudal has conserved roles in all Bilateria in defining the posterior pole and in controlling posterior elongation. These roles are seemingly similar and are difficult to disentangle. We have carried out a detailed analysis of the expression, function and interactions of the caudal ortholog of the milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, a hemimetabolous insect with a conservative early development process, in order to understand its different functions throughout development. In Oncopeltus, caudal is not maternally deposited, but has a sequence of roles in the posterior of the embryos throughout early development. It defines and maintains a posterior-anterior gradient in the blastoderm and modulates the activity of segmentation genes in simultaneous segmentation during the blastoderm stage. It later defines the invagination site and the posterior segment addition zone (SAZ) in the germband. It maintains the posterior SAZ cells in an undifferentiated proliferative state, while promoting dynamic expression of segmentation genes in the anterior SAZ. We show that rather than being a simple posterior determinant, Caudal is involved in several distinct regulatory networks, each with a distinct developmental role.

Mitochondrial chromosome as a marker of animal migratory routes: DNA barcoding revealed Asian (non-African) origin of a tropical migrant butterfly Junonia orithya in south Israel.

The blue pansy Junonia orithya Linnaeus, 1758 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) is widely distributed along the tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Australia. It is also known as a migrant species in the Levant. Here we record Junonia orithya in south Israel and provide a DNA-barcode-based evidence for its Asian (non-African) origin.

Interpretation of mitochondrial diversity in terms of taxonomy: a case study of Hyponephele lycaon species complex in Israel (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae).

It is difficult to interpret mitochondrial diversity in terms of taxonomy even in cases in which a concordance exists between mitochondrial, ecological and morphological markers. Here we demonstrate this difficulty through a study of Israeli Hyponephele butterflies. We show that samples commonly identified as Hyponephele lycaon are represented on Mount Hermon in Israel by two sympatric groups of individuals distinct both in mitochondrial DNA-barcodes (uncorrected p-distance = 3.5%) and hindwing underside pattern. These two groups were collected in different biotopes. They also tended to be different in length of brachia in male genitalia, although the latter character is variable. We reject the hypothesis that the discovered COI haplogroups are selectively neutral intraspecific characters. We hypothesize that they represent: either (1) two different biological species, or (2) a consequence of a strong positive selection acting at intraspecific level and resulting in two intraspecific clusters adapted to low and to high elevations. If we accept the first hypothesis, then provisionally these two haplogroups can be attributed to transpalearctic Hyponephele lycaon sensu stricto and to Hyponephele lycaonoides, previously known from Iran and East Turkey.