Genetic differentiation among European samples of the arctic‐alpine leaf beetle, Chrysomela lapponica

• Published in: Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata
• Main Authors: Machkour‐M’Rabet, Salima, Mardulyn, Patrick, Pasteels, Jacques M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2008
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1570-7458.2008.00770.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1570-7458.2008.00770.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1570-7458.2008.00770.x

Abstract Genetic differentiation within and among isolated populations of the arctic‐alpine leaf beetle, Chrysomela lapponica L. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), specialized on either Salix L. (Salicaceae) or Betula L. (Betulaceae) species, was assessed by F‐statistics analysis at seven allozyme loci. Beetles were collected on Salix spp. in lowland Finland (four samples), at mid elevation in the Black Forest in Germany (450 m) and the Massif Central in France (two samples, 930–1 300 m), and at high elevation in the French Alps (2 300 m). Beetles sampled in the Czech Republic (650 m) fed on Betula pubescens Ehrh. Larvae feeding on Salix spp. secreted host‐derived salicylaldehyde as major toxin; those feeding on B. pubescens secreted isobutyrates and 2‐methylbutyrates of mixed plant–insect origin. In all samples, a heterozygote deficit was observed (0.120<F IS <0.568), in particular in populations collected at mid or high elevation (F IS >0.4). The estimated mean level of genetic differentiation among all populations was high (F ST = 0.276). Differentiation was highly variable between pairs of populations (F ST = 0.093–0.455, all significant) without any correlation with geographic distance. The sample collected in the Czech Republic, from the only population on B. pubescens , was not the most divergent.