Cryptic Species Discrimination in Western Pine Beetle, Dendroctonus brevicomis LeConte (Curculionidae: Scolytinae), Based on Morphological Characters and Geometric Morphometrics.

ABSTRACT: The western pine beetle (WPB), Dendroctonus brevicomis LeConte, is a major mortality agent of pines in North America. A total of 706 adults of WPB from 81 geographical sites were analyzed with traditional and geometric morphometric methods to evaluate the variation of discrete and quantitative morphological characters with particular attention to the antenna, spermatheca, and seminal rod. Principal coordinates and canonical variate analyses supported three geographical groups in WPB: (1) West, from British Columbia to southern California along the Pacific coast, Idaho, and Montana; (2) East-SMOC, including Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Chihuahua, and Durango; and (3) SMOR, including Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas. The pubescence length on the elytral declivity w

SUBMITTER: Valerio-Mendoza O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6920968 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature