Post-introduction evolution in the biological control agent Longitarsus jacobaeae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

作者：Szucs Marianna^*; Schaffner Urs; Price William J; Schwarzlaender Mark

来源：Evolutionary Applications, 2012, 5(8): 858-868.

DOI：10.1111/j.1752-4571.2012.00264.x

• aestivation
• biological control agent
• body size
• climatic adaptation
• contemporary evolution
• larval development

Rapid evolution has rarely been assessed in biological control systems despite the similarity with biological invasions, which are widely used as model systems. We assessed post-introduction climatic adaptation in a population of Longitarsus jacobaeae, a biological control agent of Jacobaea vulgaris, which originated from a low-elevation site in Italy and was introduced in the USA to a high-elevation site (Mt. Hood, Oregon) in the early 1980s. Life-history characteristics of beetle populations from Mt. Hood, from two low-elevation sites in Oregon (Italian origin) and from a high-elevation site from Switzerland were compared in common gardens. The performance of low- and high-elevation populations at a low- and a high-elevation site was evaluated using reciprocal transplants. The results revealed significant changes in aestival diapause and shifts in phenology in the Mt. Hood population, compared with the low-elevation populations. We found increased performance of the Mt. Hood population in its home environment compared with the low-elevation populations that it originated from. The results indicate that the beetles at Mt. Hood have adapted to the cooler conditions by life-history changes that conform to predictions based on theory and the phenology of the cold-adapted Swiss beetles.

• 出版日期2012-12