Short Communication |
Corresponding author: Juan Pablo Cancela ( jpcancelav@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Roger Vila
© 2019 Juan Pablo Cancela, Sasha Vasconcelos.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Cancela JP, Vasconcelos S (2019) Ornamental plantings of Arbutus unedo L. facilitate colonisations by Charaxes jasius (Linnaeus, 1767) in Madrid province, central Spain. Nota Lepidopterologica 42(1): 63-68. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.42.34620
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The distribution of butterfly species is limited by availability of larval host plants growing in suitable climatic conditions. The Two-tailed Pasha, Charaxes jasius (Linnaeus, 1767), is a Mediterranean butterfly with only sporadic historical records in Madrid, Spain’s most central province, where the host plant is uncommon and winters are colder than in most parts of the butterfly’s range. We show the first evidence of juvenile stages of the species in two towns of north-central Madrid and compile records of C. jasius from Madrid over the past four decades. Our results suggest that, in the absence of widespread host plants, C. jasius is using suburban ornamental plantings of its host plant to colonise a region which may be becoming more climatically suitable.
The Two-tailed Pasha, Charaxes jasius (Linnaeus, 1767) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Charaxinae), has been reported from regions of mainly coastal Mediterranean or Atlantic climates (
In the Iberian Peninsula, both the butterfly and its host plant occur mainly in areas of non-continental climate, with the exception of some occasional records of the adult butterfly in inland thermal refuges (
This study was motivated by the unexpected sighting of an adult C. jasius in central Spain, in a north-central town of Madrid province, Colmenar Viejo, situated approximately 80 km from the species’ southwestern stronghold (
Following the sighting of an adult C. jasius in Colmenar Viejo on 12.ix.2017, an inventory of the ornamental Strawberry-trees present in this locality was carried out. The trees were then searched for the presence of C. jasius (eggs, larvae and/or adults). In addition, the neighbouring localities of Hoyo de Manzanares, Tres Cantos, Cantoblanco and San Agustín del Guadalix, situated west, south and east of Colmenar Viejo, were also searched. We selected these adjacent localities, as we expected that they would form part of the most likely approach of the butterfly from its southwestern settlement.
A total of 298 ornamental trees, found largely in urban parks and gardens across the five localities, were searched from mid-September to late October 2017, at the end of the summer generation of the butterfly. Seventy-one of the trees were located in Colmenar Viejo, while 201 trees were located in Tres Cantos, 7 in Cantoblanco, 4 in San Agustín del Guadalix and 15 in Hoyo de Manzanares.
Information on the butterfly’s distribution in Madrid province was reviewed using records from the following sources:
Two butterflies, 25 eggs and one larva were found during the searches of the ornamental Strawberry-trees. Both butterflies, 21 eggs and the larva were found across the town of Colmenar Viejo, while the remaining four eggs were observed on three trees in Tres Cantos, south of Colmenar Viejo (Table
List of the localities in Madrid province where Strawberry-trees were examined for the presence of C. jasius. The geographical coordinates, number of trees searched and development stage found are also provided.
Locality | Geographical Coordinates | Number trees | Development stage |
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Colmenar Viejo | 40°40’00.2”N, 3°46’17.5”W | – | 1 adult |
40°39’57.9”N, 3°46’09.5”W | 1 | 5 eggs, 1 larva | |
40°39’49.7”N, 3°46’21.8”W | 1 | 7 eggs | |
40°39’11.5”N, 3°46’19.2”W | 15 | 2 eggs | |
40°39’40.0”N, 3°45’44.8”W | 5 | – | |
40°39’59.5”N, 3°46’31.0”W | 3 | – | |
40°40’06.5”N, 3°46’30.6”W | 3 | – | |
40°40’05.0”N, 3°46’29.0”W | 2 | – | |
40°39’31.7”N, 3°45’45.7”W | 2 | – | |
40°40’04.4”N, 3°45’56.0”W | 1 | – | |
40°39’48.1”N, 3°45’54.6”W | 1 | – | |
40°40’10.1”N, 3°46’35.3”W | 3 | – | |
40°39’15.1”N, 3°46’32.2”W | 20 | 7 eggs | |
40°40’07.6”N, 3°46’38.2”W | 1 | – | |
40°39’36.0”N, 3°45’41.2”W | 5 | – | |
40°39’55.0”N, 3°46’11.6”W | 1 | – | |
40°39’41.7”N, 3°45’54.6”W | – | 1 adult | |
40°39’33.1”N, 3°45’24.7”W | 7 | – | |
Tres Cantos | 40°36’18.3”N, 3°42’33.6”W | 120 | 2 eggs |
40°35’44.0”N, 3°42’22.8”W | 1 | 1 eggs | |
40°36’30.9”N, 3°42’27.8”W | 80 | 1 eggs | |
Cantoblanco | 40°32’37.7”N, 3°41’42.8”W | 4 | – |
40°32’30.1”N, 3°41’25.9”W | 3 | – | |
San Agustín del Guadalix | 40°40’53.3”N, 3°36’49.0”W | 4 | – |
Hoyo de Manzanares | 40°37’26.9”N, 3°54’16.9”W | 15 | – |
The review of prior distribution records spanned the past four decades, and revealed a number of sporadic observations which, like that at Colmenar Viejo, are located far from the butterfly’s southwestern range (Table
List of the localities in Madrid province where C. jasius has previously been observed. The geographic coordinates (Geo. coord.), 10×10 km MGRS grid references (MGRS), development stage (Dev. stage), date, observer name (Observ.) and source of each record are also provided.
Locality | Geo. coord | MGRS | Dev. stage | Date | Observ. | Source |
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Meco | 40°33’16.1”N, 3°19’45.9”W | 30TVK78 | Adult | 1974, 1999 | J. Álvarez |
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Móstoles | 40°19’25.0”N, 3°51’54.3”W | 30TVK26 | Adult | IX-1984 | – |
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Sierra de la Higuera | 40°13’03.2”N, 4°34’42.2”W | 30TUK65 | Adult | IX-1984 | M.A. Martínez and F. Casado |
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Casa de Campo | 40°25’20.7”N, 3°45’19.0”W | 30TVK37 | Adult | 12-VI-1982 | L.A. Rovenga |
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Somosaguas | 40°25’07.1”N, 3°47’48.5”W | 30TVK37 | Adult | IX-1984 | F. Rodríguez |
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Alcalá de Henares | 40°28’57.5”N, 3°21’57.0”W | 30TVK78 | Adult | 1987 | C. Gómez et al. |
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Cadalso de los Vidrios | 40°18’07.3”N, 4°26’43.4”W | 30TUK75 | Adult | 1997 | C. Gómez de Aizpúrua |
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Aranjuez | 40°01’50.9”N, 3°36’19.6”W | 30TVK43 | Adult | 2009 | C. Gómez de Aizpúrua |
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Cenicientos | 40°15’45.6”N, 4°27’57.0”W | 30TUK65 | Adult | 2009 | J.C. Vicente and A. García Carrillo | Vicente and García Carrillo 2009 |
Cadalso de los Vidrios | 40°18’07.3”N, 4°26’43.4”W | 30TUK75 | Adult | 2009 | J.C. Vicente and A. García Carrillo | Vicente and García Carrillo 2009 |
Robledo de Chavela | 40°30’16.9”N, 4°14’08.8”W | 30TUK98 | Larva | 14-I-2012 | A. Cobo |
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El Escorial | 40°34’58.7”N, 4°07’41.0”W | 30TVK09 | Adult | 1-VII-2015 | R. de la Peña |
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Miraflores de la Sierra | 40°48’42.1”N, 3°45’58.1”W | 30TVL32 | Adult | 21-VI-2015 | K. Leahy |
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Map of the localities of Madrid province (central Spain) where C. jasius has been observed. Squares indicate records from 1980 to 1989, triangles from 1990 to 1999, diamonds from 2000 to 2009 and circles from 2010 to 2017 (see Table
Our findings of a small number of juvenile stages of C. jasius in two north-central localities of Madrid province suggest that a small breeding population occurs in the area. Furthermore, the existence of prior records in localities that are very distant from the butterfly’s southwestern settlement, and where Strawberry-trees do not naturally grow, supports the possibility that the highly mobile C. jasius is using ornamental trees to colonise new areas.
Ornamental plantings of larval host plants have been found to play an important role in the expansion of other butterfly species, such as the Common Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni (Linnaeus, 1758), that has spread along plantings of Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus Mill.) on roadsides in North Wales (
However, although ornamental Strawberry-trees have been present in the town of Colmenar Viejo for 30–40 years (Robert Wilson, pers. comm.), C. jasius has only now been recorded there. This could be a result of the species not being surveyed in that locality before. However, extensive butterfly surveys have previously been conducted across north-central Madrid (
Our study extends previous findings on the importance of ornamental host plants for the expansion of butterfly species, showing that C. jasius may be using ornamental Strawberry-trees to colonise new areas in central Spain. We also postulate that the butterfly is able to progress under these continental conditions as the region becomes climatically more suitable. Nevertheless, additional sampling should be conducted in spring, to determine whether the butterfly is successfully overwintering in the area, together with an extensive network of surveys across the province, to understand if warming climate conditions are actually playing a role in the butterfly’s expansion.
We thank Robert Wilson for discussing ideas and making constructive comments on an early version of the manuscript, and are grateful to Enrique García-Barros and Miguel López Munguira for facilitating data from Atlamar and contributing with valuable suggestions.