title: Male-killer dynamics in the tropical butterfly, Acraea encedana (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).
abstract: Sex ratio distortion in the tropical butterfly Acraea encedana is caused by infection with a male-killing bacterium of the genus Wolbachia. Previous research on this species has reported extreme female bias, high bacterial prevalences, and full sex role reversal. In this paper, we provide an assessment for the dynamics of the male-killer, based on a survey for sex ratios and Wolbachia prevalences among wild populations of A. encedana in Uganda. The study reveals that Wolbachia infection showed considerable variation over both spatial and temporal scales.
authors: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Hail, Hail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, P.O. Box 321, Khartoum 11115, Sudan; Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge.
authors: Sami Saeed M
authors: SS
authors: Hassan
authors: Eihab
authors: E
authors: Idris
authors: Michael E N
authors: ME
authors: Majerus
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002080:Butterflies / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008297:Male; D012621:Seasons; D012744:Sex Ratio; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014454:Uganda; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: PCR; Uganda; Wolbachia; female bias; population dynamics; prevalence