Comparative Studies of Three Populations of the Lady Beetle Predator Hippodamia convergens (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
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The Department of Entomology seeks to teach the study of insects, their life-cycles, and the practicalities in dealing with them, for use in the fields of business, industry, education, and public health. The study of entomology can be applied towards evolution and ecological sciences, and insects’ relationships with other organisms & humans, or towards an agricultural or horticultural focus, focusing more on pest-control and management.
History
The Department of Entomology was founded in 1975 as a result of the division of the Department of Zoology and Entomology.
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- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (parent college)
- Department of Zoology and Entomology (predecessor, 1975)
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Abstract
Allozyme electrophoresis showed much genetic variation in Hippodamia convergens, sug- gesting the possibility of geographic genetic differentiation. Twenty-two of 31 putative alloz- yme loci resolved on acrylamide gels from H. convergens populations were polymorphic (71%). Heterozygosity (diversity) averaged over all loci was 21.3 ? 4.2%. However, thirteen polymorphic loci examined in Fl Honduran x Iowa hybrids indicated that all alleles were shared in the two populations. In addition, no significant geographic variation was observed in developmental and reproductive responses of H. convergens from Iowa, California, and Honduras to aphid prey densities. All inter-population and backcrosses produced fertile eggs. Adult body size of H. convergens from Iowa and Honduras was similar. This study indicates that augmentatively released California H. convergens could successfully mate with local H. convergens populations in Iowa and Honduras.
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This article is from Florida Entomologist 84 (2001): 55, doi: 10.2307/3496663. Posted with permission.