Wolbachia infection and parasitoid occurrence among plant-feeding caterpillars of the endangered butterfly Phengaris teleius (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in southern Poland

Authors

• Ewa B. Śliwińska Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Mickiewicza 33, 31–120 Kraków, Poland
• Rafał Martyka Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Mickiewicza 33, 31–120 Kraków, Poland
• Mariusz Cichoń Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30–387 Kraków, Poland
• Piotr Tryjanowski Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, 60–625 Poznań, Poland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33338/ef.79902

Abstract

Parasites are an important component of ecological communities, as they shape host population dynamics and interfere with interspecific competition in ecosystems. Here, we studied Wolbachia infection and parasitoid occurrence among caterpillars of the endangered Phengaris teleius butterfly in five populations inhabiting southern Poland. The knowledge about potential parasites of P. teleius may be of particular importance for understanding forces regulating population processes of this species. Our study showed lack of Wolbachia infection and endoparasitoids in the sample of 91 4^th instar P. teleius caterpillars. However, we found larvae of an unidentified hymenopteran ectoparasitoid on 17 3^rd and 4^th instar P. teleius caterpillars. We compare our results to findings from other populations of P. teleius, and its sister species in Europe and Asia, and discuss possible causes of observed patterns of parasite occurrence.