Patterns of genetic and reproductive traits differentiation in Mainland vs. Corsican populations of bumblebees.

ABSTRACT: Populations on islands often exhibit lower levels of genetic variation and ecomorphological divergence compared to their mainland relatives. While phenotypic differentiation in characters, such as size or shape among insular organisms, has been well studied, insular differentiation in quantitative reproductive traits involved in chemical communication has received very little attention to date. Here, we investigated the impact of insularity on two syntopic bumblebee species pairs: one including species that are phylogenetically related (Bombus terrestris and B. lucorum), and the other including species that interact ecologically (B. terrestris and its specific nest inquiline B. vestalis). For each bumblebee species, we characterized the patterns of variation and differentiation of insular

SUBMITTER: Lecocq T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3675023 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature