Glacial bottleneck and postglacial recolonization of a seed parasitic weevil, Curculio hilgendorfi, inferred from mitochondrial DNA variation

Abstract

Climatic changes during glacial periods have had a major influence on the recent evolutionary history of living organisms, even in the warm temperate zone. We investigated phylogeographical patterns of a weevil Curculio hilgendorfi (Curculionidae), a host-specific seed predator of Castanopsis (Fagaceae) growing in the broadleaved evergreen forests in Japan. We examined 2709 bp of mitochondrial DNA for 204 individuals collected from 62 populations of the weevil. Four major haplogroups were detected, in southwestern and northeastern parts of the main islands and in central and southern parts of the Ryukyu Islands. The demographic population expansion was detected for the two groups in the main islands but not for the Ryukyu groups. The beginning time of the expansion was dated to 39,000-59,000 years ago, which is consistent with the end of the last glacial period. Our data also demonstrated that the southwestern population of the main islands has experienced a more severe bottleneck and more rapid population growth after glacial ages than the northeastern population. At least three refugial areas in the main islands were likely to have existed during the last glacial periods, one of which had not previously been recognized by analyses of intraspecific chloroplast DNA variation of several plant species growing in the broadleaved evergreen forests. Our results represent the first phylogeographical and population demographic analysis of an insect species associated with the broadleaved evergreen forests in Japan, and reveal more detailed postglacial history of the forests.

Climate Change and Evolutionary Adaptations at Species' Range Margins

“…Nonetheless, a commonly observed consequence of rapid postglacial expansions is the genetic impoverishment of populations inhabiting newly colonized areas compared to those residing in areas of persistently suitable habitat (55). This has been demonstrated in a wide variety of insect taxa, including Lepidoptera, phasmids, weevils, pitcher-plant mosquitoes, grasshoppers, caddis flies, bees, Megaloptera, and cicadas (3,4,11,17,30,45,54,55,79,83,94,117). The patterns are indicative of rapid postglacial range expansion in many regions of the globe including Europe (11), North America (36), New Zealand (16,79), and Asia (3).…”

Phylogeography of Nasonia vitripennis (Hymenoptera) indicates a mitochondrial–Wolbachia sweep in North America

“…Scheffer and Grissell (2003) found no mitochondrial genetic variation in the introduced populations of South American seed-feeding wasps (Megastigmus transvaalensis), but found a high variability in the African source population. Aoki et al (2008) investigated the consequences of a glacial bottleneck on the mitochondrial genetic variation of a seed parasitic weevil (Cuculio hilgendorfi) in Japan and found a similar pattern. In contrast to these studies, in N. vitripennis the reduced variation is mirrored only in the mitochondria and not in the nuclear variation.…”

Different phylogeographic patterns in two Japanese Silpha species (Coleoptera: Silphidae) affected by climatic gradients and topography

“…Because of the varying connections between islands, climatic fluctuations and associated vegetational changes during the Pliocene to the Quaternary, the historical biogeography of terrestrial animals on the Japanese islands may be complex and it has been a challenge to infer (e.g. Ohdachi et al, 2001;Satoh et al, 2004;Nagata, Kubota & Sota, 2007;Sota & Hayashi, 2007;Aoki, Kato & Murakami, 2008;Tomozawa & Suzuki, 2008).…”