The Mexican corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera zeae Krysan and Smith, and western corn rootworm, D. virgifera virgifera LeConte, are subspecies that are key pests of corn. The Mexican corn rootworm is distributed from
Central America to Oklahoma in the United States. The western corn rootworm is found from Northern Mexico up into the United States Corn Belt and into Canada. The latter subspecies has also been recently introduced into Europe. This study was conducted to examine genetic variability
within and among populations of the two subspecies throughout much of the geographical range of the species in North and Central America. Nested clade analysis of COI mitochondrial DNA sequence data from individuals in each population was used to determine if unique genetic spatial patterns occur among clusters of populations. Results will also be used to revisit current hypotheses pertaining to historical corn - corn rootworm associations and the relatively recent changes in the geographic
distribution of the western corn rootworm.
Species 1: Coleoptera Chrysomelidae Diabrotica virgifera zeae (Mexican corn rootworm)
Species 2: Coleoptera Chrysomelidae Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (western corn rootworm)
Keywords: phylogeography, COI mitochondrial DNA
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