As a perennial, eusocial and cosmopolitan florivore, the western honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) faces unique demands for resource acquisition. These demands are met by a sophisticated colony-level foraging biology characterized by extreme dietary generalism, energetic optimization and the integration of private and shared information about landscape-scale floral resources (Grüter &

search into the genetics of Kentucky bluegrass can be difficult because of a complex genome that can affect Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) is an important cool-season many different variables. For instance, genome size has grass species in the turfgrass and forage industries. Understanding the genetics of Kentucky bluegrass is useful in developing improved adaptive significance and influences phenotype by the cultivars and hybrids. However, studying the genetics of Kentucky expression of its genic content and by the physical effects bluegrass can often be difficult because of the high variation in ploidy of its mass and/or volume (Bennett and Leitch, 1995). In level that results from its facultative apomictic reproductive nature.angiosperms, DNA amount has been shown to correlate Flow cytometry provides an easy and accurate method for assessing with a wide range of important characters such as minithis variation by quantifying DNA content. The purpose of our study mum generation time and ecological behavior. Large was to determine the level of variation in ploidy in Kentucky bluegrass variations in ploidy level exist within and between cultiby analyzing its DNA content using flow cytometry. In addition, DNA vars because of the facultative apomictic nature of recontent was compared with genetic similarity derived from DNA production in Kentucky bluegrass. Therefore, it is not marker data, and was also correlated with chromosome number. possible to assign a specific ploidy level to Kentucky Twenty-two cultivars of Kentucky bluegrass were selected for the study by considering the range of variability in morphological traits bluegrass cultivars. The production of reduced and unand genetic distance derived from DNA marker data. We found that reduced eggs accounts for the differences in chromothe DNA content of Kentucky bluegrass genotypes from the 22 cultisome number. Research has demonstrated that the chrovars ranged from 5.39 to 17.69 pg of DNA/2C and that a majority of mosome number in Kentucky bluegrass can vary from the genotypes had a DNA content value in the range of 7 to 13 pg. 28 to 140, which corresponds to euploid chromosome A significant correlation between DNA content and chromosome numbers with x ϭ 7 (Lö ve and Lö ve, 1975; Barcaccia number was detected. Euploid chromosome numbers (x ϭ 7) with a et al., 1997). range from the pentaploid (2n ϭ 5x ϭ 35) to the quindecaploid (2n ϭ The ability to quickly estimate DNA amount would 15x ϭ 105) were found along with aneuploid numbers. The results facilitate Kentucky bluegrass research by allowing the of this research could aid both breeders and researchers in studying inclusion or exclusion of DNA amount as a variable in the genetics of the species and in improving Kentucky bluegrass cultivars via intra-and interspecific hybridizations.

The stink bug, Megacopta cribraria, has an obligate relationship with a bacterial endosymbiont which allows it to feed on legumes. The insect is a pest of soybeans in Asia and was first reported in the Western Hemisphere in October 2009 on kudzu vine, Pueraria montana, in North Georgia, USA. By October 2010 M. cribraria had been confirmed in 80 counties in Georgia actively feeding on kudzu vine and soybean plants. Since the symbiosis may support the bug's ecological expansions, a population genetic baseline for the symbiosis was developed from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA (nuDNA) gene sequence collected from each insect and its primary γ- proteobacterium and secondary α -proteobacterium endosymbionts. A single mitochondrial DNA haplotype was found in all insects sampled in Georgia and South Carolina identified as GA1. The GAI haplotype appears to be rapidly dispersing across Georgia and into contiguous states. Primary and secondary endosymbiont gene sequences from M. cribraria in Georgia were the same as those found in recently collected Megacopta samples from Japan. The implications of these data are discussed.

The goal of this study was to infer Heterotermes (Froggatt) (Dictyoptera: Rhinotermitidae) species diversity on the island of Puerto Rico from phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data from two mitochondrial genes, 16S rRNA and cytochrome oxidase II (COII). This termite genus is a structural pest known to be well adapted to arid environments in subtropical and tropical regions worldwide including Puerto Rico and many other Caribbean islands. Extensive sampling was accomplished across Puerto Rico, and phylogenetic analyses of individual gene sequences from these samples indicated robust datasets of congruent gene tree topologies showing three monophyletic groups: H. cardini (Snyder), H. convexinotatus (Snyder), and H. tenuis (Hagen). We found that H. cardini and H. convexinotatus were widespread in the arid coastal regions of Puerto Rico, whereas H. tenuis was uncommon and may represent a relatively new introduction. We found only H. convexinotatus on Culebra Island. We provide strong evidence that Puerto Rico may be linked to the Heterotermes in southern Florida, USA, since its GenBank 16S sequence was identical to that of seven Puerto Rican H. cardini sequences. Our study represents the first records of H. cardini from Puerto Rico and Grand Bahama.

Flea beetles in the genus Altica are herbivorous, urban agricultural pests that are morphologically difficult to distinguish. Host plant associations, therefore, have been used as an important species character in field studies. Indigenous weeds in the Onagraceae, genus Oenothera, are known to serve as developmental hosts for the flea beetle Altica litigata Fall. Although host plant specificity in herbivorous beetles is labile and adult A. litigata have been reported to aggregately feed on plants in the nonindigenous Lythraceae, genus Lagerstroemia, there is no evidence that these ornamental trees serve as developmental hosts. Because adult A. litigata feed on host plants from species in two plant genera, this study was designed to test two hypotheses. The first hypothesis that was tested was whether adult flea beetles collected from primrose and crape myrtle plants across four ecoregions are phenotypically (morphology) and genotypically (genotype) A. litigata. The second hypothesis that was tested was whether two unlinked loci, cytochrome oxidase subunit I and internal transcribed spacer, are phylogenetically concordant for flea beetle species. If so, they could be used to determine the intraspecific geographic history of A. litigata collected from Oenothera and Lagerstroemia species. We discuss how these markers, in conjunction with morphology and host plant feeding behavior, can not only help to validate morphologically difficult taxa but also can illuminate herbivore-plant genetic structure through phylogeny analyses.