Mito-nuclear discordance at a mimicry color transition zone in bumble bee Bombus melanopygus.

ABSTRACT: As hybrid zones exhibit selective patterns of gene flow between otherwise distinct lineages, they can be especially valuable for informing processes of microevolution and speciation. The bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, displays two distinct color forms generated by Müllerian mimicry: a northern "Rocky Mountain'' color form with ferruginous mid-abdominal segments (B. m. melanopygus) and a southern "Pacific'' form with black mid-abdominal segments (B. m. edwardsii). These morphs meet in a mimetic transition zone in northern California and southern Oregon that is more narrow and transitions further west than comimetic bumble bee species. To understand the historical formation of this mimicry zone, we assessed color distribution data for B

SUBMITTER: Wham BE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8717287 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature