Eastern populations of the North American regal fritillary, Argynnis idalia Drury (1773), have been largely extirpated over the past half century. Here we report on the last remaining population of eastern regal fritillaries, located within a military installation in south-central Pennsylvania. Samples were obtained from field specimens during two years of annual monitoring, and from females collected for captive rearing over a five year period. Nuclear microsatellite and mitochondrial sequence data do not suggest subdivision within this population, but excess nuclear homozygosity indicates negative impacts on genetic diversity likely due to small population size and potential inbreeding effects. Molecular assays did not detect Wolbachia endosymbionts in field specimens of regal fritillary, but sympatric Argynnis sister species showed high prevalence of Wolbachia infected individuals. Our results inform ongoing conservation and reintroduction projects, designed to protect the last remaining regal fritillary population from extirpation in the eastern United States.

中文翻译：

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宾夕法尼亚州中南部富丽贝母、Argynnis idalia（鳞翅目：蛱蝶科）残余种群中的遗传多样性和沃尔巴克氏体（立克次体目：无形体科）流行率。


北美帝王贝母 Argynnis idalia Drury (1773) 的东部种群在过去的半个世纪中已基本灭绝。在这里，我们报告了位于宾夕法尼亚州中南部军事设施内最后剩余的东部帝王贝母种群。样本是在两年的年度监测期间从现场标本中获取的，以及在五年内从圈养饲养的雌性中获取的。核微卫星和线粒体序列数据并不表明该群体内的细分，但过多的核纯合性表明对遗传多样性的负面影响可能是由于群体规模小和潜在的近亲繁殖效应。分子检测并未在帝王贝母的野外标本中检测到沃尔巴克氏体内共生体，但同域的阿金氏姐妹种显示出沃尔巴克氏体感染个体的高流行率。我们的研究结果为正在进行的保护和重新引入项目提供了信息，这些项目旨在保护美国东部仅存的帝王贝母种群免遭灭绝。