The Agehana maraho, a swallowtail butterfly species endemic to Taiwan, originated from North America and later dispersed throughout East Asia between 23.03 and 5.33 million years ago, researchers said yesterday.
It was previously believed that the species, commonly referred to as the broad-tailed swallowtail butterfly, belonged to an Asian butterfly genus native to China.
Recognized as Taiwan’s “national butterfly” and known for its rear-protruding hind wings and red crescent mottles, the butterfly is one of only two species of the genus Agehana — the only class of the Papilionidae family that is native to East Asia.
The other species is the Agehana elwesi, a continental butterfly endemic to southern China.
Discovered and named by Japanese entomologist Shonen Matsumura in 1936, the broad-tailed swallowtail butterfly had been considered to be closely related to the Agehana elwesi — to the extent that the butterfly’s status as an independent species had been disputed for more than 70 years, until Taiwanese researchers identified the distinct genetic differences between the continental and insular swallows in 2009 using molecular DNA testing, the Bureau of Forestry said.
A team led by National Taiwan University professor Wu Li-wei (吳立偉), National Taiwan Normal University professor Hsu Yu-feng (徐堉峰) and National Sun Yat-sen University professor Yen Sheng-hung (顏聖紘) sampled four specific genes from a total of 86 species within the Papilionidae family to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships and historical scenarios.
The team discovered that the genus Agehana actually falls within the American Papilio subgenus Pterourus and is not as previously suggested phylogenetically close to the Asian Papilio subgenus Chilasa, which explains the great morphological distinction of the Agehana from other Asian butterflies, the team said.
The team inferred from the dating and biogeographic analysis that an American ancestor of Pterourus was distributed to East Asia in the early Miocene period via the Bering Land Bridge — which connected Asia and North America at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages — and developed into the Agehana genus, resulting in the present “East Asia-America” disjunction distribution.
The broad-tailed swallowtail butterfly is classified as an endangered species in Taiwan and listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened species, the bureau said.
The butterfly only feeds on Sassafras randaiense, a vulnerable species of laura tree native to Taiwan that is sparsely distributed across the nation’s Central Mountain Range, it said.
The butterfly’s scientific name “maraho” was derived from the Atayal language, meaning “chieftain” or “leader,” suggesting the unparalleled status of the broad-tailed swallowtail among Taiwan’s butterflies, the bureau said, adding that it has designated 55,991 hectares of forest in Hsinchu County’s Wufeng Township (五峰) and Miaolin County’s Taian Township (泰安) as the butterfly’s conservation area.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
MORE RETALIATION: China would adopt a long-term pressure strategy to prevent other countries or future prime ministers following in Sanae Takaichi’s steps, an academic said Taiwan should maintain communications with Japan, as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is to lead a revision of security documents, Taiwanese academics said yesterday. Tensions have risen between Japan and China over remarks by Takaichi earlier this month that the use of force against Taiwan would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Prospect Foundation president Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) yesterday said Takaichi’s stance regarding Taiwan is the same as past Japanese prime ministers, but her position is clearer than that of her predecessors Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba. Although Japan views a “Taiwan contingency” as a “survival-threatening situation,” which would allow its military to
RSS