New Zealand has three named species of tussock butterfly, all of which are endemic to the South Island. They have this name because the adult butterflies are found around the tussock plant which they ate as caterpillars. Around ten years ago, when I was catching insects with my father in the mountains of Otago I came across tussock butterflies that looked similar to one of the named species but were distinctly different in both morphology (how they look) and behaviour.
Picture One. The three named species of tussock butterfly and my potential new one. Top left: Argyrophenga antipodum. Top right: the potential new species I am studying. Bottom left : Argyrophenga harrisi. Bottom right: Argyrophenga janitae.
This semester I was lucky enough to be eligible to do a research placement, so I choose this project since I have wanted to sort it out for such a long time. I applied to the Miss E. L. Hellaby Indigenous Grasslands Research Trust for money for the project as I needed money for sequencing two genes in the butterflies as well as a trip to Wellington to see NZ butterfly expert George Gibbs who has offered to help teach me how to dissect butterfly genitalia (sexual organs – the sexual organs of insects are often used to differentiate between species). I applied to the Hellaby trust because this potential new species appears to only feed on an endemic tussock species (tussocks are grasses).
Picture two. Alpine tussock butterfly habitat: the natural habitat of a butterfly hunter
So far with this project I have collected specimens of this potential new species as well as specimens of two of the other tussock butterfly species (a great excuse to get into the beautiful Otago and Canterbury mountains). I already had a large collection of these butterflies but I wanted to have fresh ones for DNA extraction as it is harder to extract DNA from old specimens. I have also started to look through all of the literature relating to this group of butterflies. These days I am working in a lab in the burns building doing genetic work. I am planning to sequence two genes in these butterflies, one from mitochondrial DNA and one from nuclear DNA. It is a big process to get sequences from a butterfly. First I extract DNA from butterfly tissue (I use part of a butterfly leg), then PCR (polymerase chain reaction) is used to make many copies of the gene I am hoping to sequence as well as to see if there was contamination. The PCR products are run through a gel to see if the gene was amplified because the next step, sequencing, costs around $12 per sample. Once I have all my sequences I will be able to generate trees that show how these two gene regions differ across the butterflies sequenced. The tree that I make on the computer does not directly tell me if it is a new species or not but it will give evidence that can be used in conjunction with other methods to elucidate the species status of this potential new species.
Picture three. A Gel picture. Numbers 1-8 are the 8 samples (from butterflies). The black band below the number indicates that DNA was amplified. The position of the bands in relation to the molecular weight ladder (MW) were used to figure out if the correct sequence of DNA was amplified. + and – are positive and negative controls used to help figure out what the problem is when something goes wrong (e.g. contamination).
It will be very interesting to see what results I get from the lab as well as from other areas. Hopefully I will get good results as I am going to give a talk on this work at the upcoming Australia and NZ shared entomological conference that will be held here at Lincoln in August. I also plan on producing a paper on this work.
This research placement has been a good opportunity to see what it is like being a post-grad student as well as to learn many techniques that will benefit me in the future. I couldn’t recommend a research placement more highly.
Anyway…. I better get back into the lab. Will hopefully have some interesting results to tell you about soon!
Picture four. Part of my tussock butterfly collection the specimens of the potential new species are in the top right corner.
