Lysiphlebus testaceipes Cresson is a solitary endoparasitoid of aphids and native to the US. It is the most widely distributed aphid parasitoid in the US and has a large host range. Furthermore, L. testaceipes is the primary parasitoid attacking cereal aphids in the Great Plains from Texas to North Dakota. In a previous study it was found that a Nebraska population had a much higher survivorship at cold temperatures than a population from Oklahoma and Texas. This suggested local adaptation to the environment and perhaps partitioning of populations. To test this, we examined a 500 bp portion of the mtDNA COI gene for sequence divergence. However, we found no variation among these populations. There was significant COI and 18S variation between the Great Plains populations and populations from Florida and Spain, suggesting partitioning by geography and/or host. Currently, we are examining the mtDNA 16S RNA gene for sequence divergence among these and other populations. Minor variation was found in the 16S region of populations from the Great Plains and the Pacific Northwest
Species 1: Hymenoptera Aphidiidae Lysiphlebus testaceipes
Species 2: Homoptera Aphididae Schizaphis graminum (greenbug)
Species 3: Homoptera Aphididae Toxoptera citricida (brown citrus aphid)
Keywords: parasitoid, biological control
Back to Display Presentations, Subsection Ca. Biological Control
Back to Posters
Back to The 2002 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition