Asymmetric hybridization between non-native winter moth, Operophtera brumata (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), and native Bruce spanworm, Operophtera bruceata, in the Northeastern United States, assessed with novel microsatellites and SNPs

2016 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.P. Havill ◽  
J. Elkinton ◽  
J.C. Andersen ◽  
S.B. Hagen ◽  
Hannah J. Broadley ◽  
...  

AbstractThe European winter moth, Operophtera brumata, is a non-native pest in the Northeastern USA causing defoliation of forest trees and crops such as apples and blueberries. This species is known to hybridize with O. bruceata, the Bruce spanworm, a native species across North America, although it is not known if there are hybrid generations beyond F1. To study winter moth population genetics and hybridization with Bruce spanworm, we developed two sets of genetic markers, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and microsatellites, using genomic approaches. Both types of markers were validated using samples from the two species and their hybrids. We identified 1216 SNPs and 24 variable microsatellite loci. From them we developed a subset of 95 species-diagnostic SNPs and ten microsatellite loci that could be used for hybrid identification. We further validated the ten microsatellite loci by screening field collected samples of both species and putative hybrids. In addition to confirming the presence of F1 hybrids reported in previous studies, we found evidence for multi-generation asymmetric hybridization, as suggested by the occurrence of hybrid backcrosses with the winter month, but not with the Bruce spanworm. Laboratory crosses between winter moth females and Bruce spanworm males resulted in a higher proportion of viable eggs than the reciprocal cross, supporting this pattern. We discuss the possible roles of population demographics, sex chromosome genetic incompatibility, and bacterial symbionts as causes of this asymmetrical hybridization and the utility of the developed markers for future studies.

Author(s):  
Jeremy Andersen ◽  
Nathan Havill ◽  
George Boettner ◽  
Jennifer Chandler ◽  
Adalgisa Caccone ◽  
...  

Hybridization plays an important and underappreciated role in shaping the evolutionary trajectories of species. Following the introduction of a non-native organism to a novel habitat, hybridization with a native congener may affect the probability of establishment of the introduced species. In most documented cases of hybridization between a native and a non-native species, a mosaic hybrid zone is formed, with hybridization occurring heterogeneously across the landscape. In contrast, most naturally occurring hybrid zones are clinal in structure. Here we report on a long-term microsatellite dataset that monitored hybridization between the invasive winter moth, Operophtera brumata (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), and the native Bruce spanworm, O. bruceata, over a 12-year period. Our results document one of the first examples of the real-time formation and geographic settling of a clinal hybrid zone. In addition, by comparing one transect in Massachusetts where extreme winter cold temperatures have been hypothesized to restrict the distribution of winter moth, and one in coastal Connecticut, where winter temperatures are moderated by Long Island Sound, we find that the location of the hybrid zone appears to be independent of environmental variables and maintained under a tension model wherein the stability of the hybrid zone is constrained by population density, reduced hybrid fitness, and low dispersal rates. Documenting the formation of a contemporary clinal hybrid zone may provide important insights into the factors that shaped other well-established hybrid zones.


2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 1492-1498
Author(s):  
Brian P Griffin ◽  
Jennifer L Chandler ◽  
Jeremy C Andersen ◽  
Nathan P Havill ◽  
Joseph S Elkinton

Abstract Winter moth, Operophtera brumata L. (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), causes widespread defoliation in both its native and introduced distributions. Invasive populations of winter moth are currently established in the United States and Canada, and pheromone-baited traps have been widely used to track its spread. Unfortunately, a native species, the Bruce spanworm, O. bruceata (Hulst), and O. bruceata × brumata hybrids respond to the same pheromone, complicating efforts to detect novel winter moth populations. Previously, differences in measurements of a part of the male genitalia called the uncus have been utilized to differentiate the species; however, the accuracy of these measurements has not been quantified using independent data. To establish morphological cutoffs and estimate the accuracy of uncus-based identifications, we compared morphological measurements and molecular identifications based on microsatellite genotyping. We find that there are significant differences in some uncus measurements, and that in general, uncus measurements have low type I error rates (i.e., the probability of having false positives for the presence of winter moth). However, uncus measurements had high type II error rates (i.e., the probability of having false negatives for the presence of winter moth). Our results show that uncus measurements can be useful for performing preliminary identifications to monitor the spread of winter moth, though for accurate monitoring, molecular methods are still required. As such, efforts to study the spread of winter moth into interior portions of North America should utilize a combination of pheromone trapping and uncus measurements, while maintaining vouchers for molecular identification.


1985 ◽  
Vol 117 (5) ◽  
pp. 525-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.M. Humble

AbstractThree native species of parasites and 3 hyperparasites were reared from pupae of the European winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.), and the Bruce spanworm, O. bruceata (Hulst), collected in the Victoria area of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 1981. Two of the pupal parasites also attacked other species of Geometridae. Two species of hyperparasites attacked Cyzenis sp., and the third parasitized ichneumonid primary parasites of Operophtera spp. The hyperparasites may have a negative impact on the biological-control agents, Cyzenis albicans (Fall.) and Agrypon flaveolatum (Grav.). Total parasitism by pupal parasites of the Operophtera host complex was about 4%. Descriptions and illustrations of cephalic structures of final-instar larvae of the parasites and a key for their separation are given.


1988 ◽  
Vol 120 (7) ◽  
pp. 697-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. Pivnick

In a recently completed study involving pheromone trapping of the winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.), and the Bruce spanworm, O. bruceata (Hulst), on Vancouver Island (Pivnick et al. 1988), I noticed that O. bruceata had wing colouration different from sympatric O. brumata. The west coast O. bruceata has a pale yellow-orange costal margin on the underside of the forewings and this is faint to absent in O. brumata (Fig. 1). It is also absent from O. bruceata in Saskatoon, which is interesting because some authors consider the west coast population of O. bruceata to be a separate species: the western winter moth, O. occidentalis (see Ferguson 1978; Pivnick et al. 1988). Descriptions of O. bruceata (Brown 1962) and O. brumata (Cuming 1961), and a taxonomic key to these two species (Eidt et al. 1966), do not mention any distinctive wing markings that could be used to separate the two species.


1989 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Barron

AbstractAgrypon flaveolatum (Gravenhorst), introduced from Europe to control the winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.), on apple and oak in Nova Scotia and British Columbia, was distinguished from the closely related native species, A. provancheri (Dalla Torre) and A. alaskensis (Ashmead). A detailed study of the three species revealed that they could be distinguished by specific morphological characters and by results of morphometric analyses of intra- and inter-specific variation of number of annuli of the antennal flagellum. The history of introductions of both the host and parasite is reviewed, including an account of host–parasite interactions. All of the characters defining species entities were found to be correlated with differences in host insect, host plant, and distribution.


1968 ◽  
Vol 100 (5) ◽  
pp. 536-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Eidt ◽  
D. G. Embree

AbstractLarvae of the winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.), and the Bruce spanworm, O. bruceata (Hulst), differ in the number of instars, in habits, and slightly in morphology. Populations may be distinguished readily by these criteria, but individual larvae sometimes give difficulty. The form of the pupal cremaster is distinctly different.


Author(s):  
И.А. Уткина ◽  
В.В. Рубцов

Дубовая широкоминирующая моль Acrocercops brongniardella (Fabricius, 1798) (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) давно известный и массово размножающийся в дубравах европейской части России, Украины, странах Западной Европы вид филлофаговминёров. В последние два десятилетия появились свидетельства увеличения её численности в ряде регионов. Вместе с тем до сих пор остаются пробелы в знаниях об особенностях развития этого вида. По мнению одних ученых, моль производит одно поколение в год, других два. Такое расхождение может быть связано с разной погодной ситуацией в разных местообитаниях или изменяющимися условиями одного и того же местообитания. При одновременном массовом размножении дубовой широкоминирующей моли и зимней пяденицы Operophtera brumata (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) дефолиация крон обеих феноформ дуба происходит поразному, что связано с тем, что первичную листву ранней формы дуба, повреждённую зимней пяденицей, моль не заселяет и начинает минировать листья дуба поздней и промежуточных форм, не повреждённых зимней пяденицей, что увеличивает уровень их дефолиации. После окукливания зимней пяденицы, при появлении на раннем дубе нежной вторичной листвы, дубовая широкоминирующая моль успешно её осваивает. Деревья дуба при этом испытывают более продолжительное и интенсивное повреждение листвы разных генераций, что сказывается на их текущем состоянии и дальнейшем развитии. Таким образом, при высокой плотности популяции зимней пяденицы она оказывает определенное давление на популяцию дубовой широкоминирующей моли, лишая её возможности питаться весенней листвой дуба ранней формы. Лёт бабочек дубовой широкоминирующей моли ежегодно продолжительный в течение всего летнего периода он проходит очень неравномерно в разных типах дубрав и существенно зависит от погодных условий. Ее высокая вредоносность сохраняется. Вспышка зимней пяденицы прекратилась после сильных морозов в январе феврале 2012 г. The brown oak slender Acrocercops brongniardella (F., 1798) (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) is a wellknown species of leaf miners that has been widely reproducing in oak forests of the European part of Russia, Ukraine, and Western European countries. In the past two decades, evidence of an increase in its abundance and population density in some regions has appeared. However, there are still gaps in knowledge on the development features of this species. According to some authors, the moth produces one generation per year, while other authors indicate two. This discrepancy may be due to different weather conditions in different habitats, or the change in conditions of the same habitat. With simultaneous mass reproduction of the brown oak slender and the winter moth Operophtera brumata (L., 1758) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), the defoliation of the crowns of both phenological forms of the oak occurs differently, due to the fact that the primary foliage of the early form of the oak damaged by the winter moth, the brown oak slender does not colonize and begins to mine the leaves of the oak of the late and intermediate forms not damaged by the winter moth. This increases the level of defoliation. After pupation of the winter moth, when delicate secondary foliage appears on early oak, the brown oak slender successfully utilizes it. At this point, oak trees experience a more prolonged and intensive damage to the foliage of different generations, which affects their current state and further development. Thus, at a high density of the winter moth population, it exerts a certain pressure on the population of the brown oak slender, depriving it of the opportunity to feed on the spring foliage of the earlyshaped oak. The flight of the brown oak slender is annually long, during the whole summer, but it occurs very unevenly in different types of oak forests and significantly depends on the weather conditions. The damage caused by the brown oak slender is still high. The outbreak of the winter moth stopped after a severe frost in January February of 2012.


1966 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Eidt ◽  
D. G. Embree ◽  
C. C. Smith

AbstractThe winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.), and the Bruce spanworm moth, O. bruceata (Hulst), may be readily distinguished by differences in the male genitalia and the length of the vestigial wings of the female.


1988 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. MacPhee ◽  
A. Newton ◽  
K.B. McRae

AbstractThe winter moth Operophtera brumata (L.) is a serious introduced pest of apple trees in Nova Scotia. It spread westward through orchards of the Annapolis Valley in the 1950’s and to other deciduous trees throughout Nova Scotia later. The parasites Cyzenis albicans (Fall.) and Agrypon flaveolatum (Grav.) were liberated during 1961 in Nova Scotia and gradually spread throughout the winter moth population. Population dynamics studies were conducted in insecticide-free orchards and corroborated with observations in neglected unsprayed apple trees over a wide area. The winter moth population reached a balanced level in unsprayed orchards at varying densities below the limits of its food supply, but well above an acceptable level for commercial apple production. In young orchards, where trees cover a small percentage of the ground, natural dispersal of larvae appeared to be a suppressing factor. In mature orchards mortality was density dependent during the prepupal to adult stage; mortality was partly due to parasitism and predation but also to other factors.


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