Host plant associations in Western Palaearctic Longitarsus flea beetles (Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini): a preliminary phylogenetic assessment.

ABSTRACT: Longitarsus Latreille (Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini) is a very large genus of phytophagous insects, with more than 700 species distributed in all zoogeographical regions. Patterns of host use have been a central topic in phytophagous insect research. In this study a first assessment is provided to test the hypothesis that host-plant association is phylogenetically conserved in Western Palaearctic Longitarsus species. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference methods were used to infer a phylogeny based on DNA sequence data from two mitochondrial genes from 52 Longitarsus species from the Western Palaearctic. In agreement with the host phylogenetic conservatism hypothesis, a strict association between most of the recovered clades and specific plant families was

SUBMITTER: Salvi D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6591207 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature