Sexual reproduction in the white pine weevil (Pissodes strobi [Peck] [Coleoptera: Curculionidae]): implications for population genetic diversity.
Controlled mating experiments in the white pine weevil (Pissodes strobi [Peck]) indicated that female weevils either stored sperm or fertilized eggs from one season to the next, and were able to colonize Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis [Bong.] Carr.) trees without additional mating events. This was interpreted as being beneficial for the insect, in that population establishment in a new habitat could be initiated by dispersing previously mated females without participation of the male. This makes colonization and population/outbreak development more likely as it reduces the need for mate searching in the second season. Paternity identification, based on microsatellite molecular markers, established that the progeny produced in year 2 by females mated only in year 1, were often fathered by more than one male. Multiple paternity, coupled with a lack of parthenogenesis, which was also demonstrated herein, may help to account for the high degree of genetic diversity evidenced in this species.
Lewis
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KG
Northern Forestry Center, Canadian Forest Service, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Liewlaksaneeyanawin
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C
Alfaro
R I
RI
Ritland
C
C
Ritland
K
K
El-Kassaby
Y A
YA
D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D032462:Cycadopsida; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008297:Male; D010063:Ovum / Q000502:physiology; D012098:Reproduction; D012621:Seasons; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology; D014197:Trees