Phylogeography of specialist weevil Trichobaris soror: a seed predator of Datura stramonium.
Can the genetic structure of a specialist weevil be explained by the geological history of their distribution zone? We analyze the genetic variation of the weevil Trichobaris soror, a specialist seed predator of Datura stramonium, in order to address this question. For the phylogeographic analysis we used the COI gene, and assessed species identity in weevil populations through geometric morphometric approach. In total, we found 53 haplotypes in 413 samples, whose genetic variation supports the formation of three groups: (1) the Transmexican Volcanic Belt (TVB group), (2) the Sierra Madre Sur (SMS group) and (3) the Balsas Basin (BB group). The morphometric analysis suggests that BB group is probably not T. soror. Our results have two implications: first, the phylogeographic pattern of T. soror is explained by both the formation of the geological provinces where it is currently distributed and the coevolution with its host plant, because the TVB and SMS groups could be separated due to the discontinuity of altitude between the geological provinces, but the recent population expansion of TVB group and the high frequency of only one haplotype can be due to specialization to the host plant. Second, we report a new record of a different species of weevil in BB group parasitizing D. stramonium fruits.
Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-275, Distrito Federal, 04510, Mexico.
Marisol
M
De-la-Mora
Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-275, Distrito Federal, 04510, Mexico.
Daniel
D
Piñero
Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-275, Distrito Federal, 04510, Mexico. farfan@unam.mx.
Juan
J
Núñez-Farfán
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D013286:Datura stramonium; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics*; D020387:Food Chain; D014644:Genetic Variation; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D006239:Haplotypes; D008800:Mexico; D058974:Phylogeography; D048889:Weevils / Q000235:genetics*
D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV
Coevolution; Datura; Phylogeography; Trichobaris; Weevil