Global invasion history of the agricultural pest butterfly Pieris rapae: a citizen science population genomics study
dataset
posted on 2024-11-23, 21:59authored byUniversity of Tennessee, Knoxville
Here we demonstrate the power of the public to aid in collections-based research, where through an international citizen science project, Pieris Project, we were able to generate genetic evidence and combine it with historical records to uncover routes of invasion of the small cabbage white butterfly—Pieris rapae. We find that the spread of this butterfly across Eurasia occurred relatively recently (<3,000 years ago) and was later followed by a near linear series of introductions beginning in Europe. These invasions coincided with human migration, trade, and the diversification of the butterflies’ food plants. The success of this butterfly despite repeated losses in genetic diversity provides further evidence that species’ invasions may not always be impeded by loss of genetic diversity.
It is recommended to cite the accession numbers that are assigned to data submissions, e.g. the GenBank, WGS or SRA accession numbers. If individual BioProjects need to be referenced, state that "The data have been deposited with links to BioProject accession number PRJNA542919 in the NCBI BioProject database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/)."