Understanding how dispersal affects the genetic structuring of natural-enemy populations has important implications for the success of biological control programs and will break new ground in the area of parasite-host interactions. There have been several studies linking the dispersal ability of herbivorous insects and features of their habitats with the genetic subdivision of populations, however no studies have been conducted investigating the population-genetic effects of host dispersal and its consequences for the gentic differentiation of an associated parasitic insect. Prokelisia marginata and P. dolus have a shared parasite, the twisted-wing insect, Elenchus koebelei. This makes for an exceptional model system to study the effects of dispersal on the genetic differentiation of parasite populations. Using mitochondrial DNA markers, insight will be provided into the differentiation of each species in the context of the dispersal biology of the planthoppers and the effects of the parasite.
Species 1: Hemiptera Delphacidae Prokelisia marginata (planthoppers)
Species 2: Hemiptera Delphacidae Prokelisia dolus
Species 3: Strepsiptera Stylopidae Elenchus koebelei
Keywords: dispersal, population genetics
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA