Microsatellite analysis of Xylocopa virginica

Climate change is expected to facilitate distribution shifts of many taxa, yet analytical tools to track these changes are often lacking. Temperature is thought to limit the ranges of the large carpenter bees (Apidae: Xylocopa); thus species within this group may be expected to shift their distributions in response to climate change, and some North American taxa may already be expanding northward. Microsatellite loci reflect rapid evolutionary change and can be useful genetic markers to track recent population dynamics. Microsatellite markers (n=14) have been developed for X. frontalis, a neotropically distributed species, but these markers are often species-specific and their utility throughout the genus is unknown. The utility of these microsatellite markers was examined in X. virginica individuals collected from seven states across the range of the species. Data from populations in Arkansas and Tennessee were compared to examine the utility of these loci in population-level analyses.