2012/02/15 by Scott P. Egan, Glen R. Hood, Jeff Feder +1 · 2 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant and animal studies #Hymenoptera taxonomy and phylogeny #Insect-Plant Interactions and Control #Biology #Gall #Reproductive isolation #Host (biology) #Isolation (microbiology) #Evolutionary biology #Zoology #Genetics #Ecology #Microbiology #Population #Demography
paper · pdf · doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.1205
openalex publication_date 2012/02/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/08
Ecological speciation occurs when reproductive isolation evolves as a consequence of divergent natural selection among environments. A direct prediction of this process is that ecologically divergent pairs of populations will exhibit greater reproductive isolation than ecologically similar pairs of populations. By comparing allopatric populations of the cynipid gall wasp Belonocnema treatae infesting Quercus virginiana and Quercus geminata, we tested the role that divergent host use plays in generating ecological divergence and sexual isolation. We found differences in body size and gall structure associated with divergent host use, but no difference in neutral genetic divergence between populations on the same or different host plant. We observed significant assortative mating between populations from alternative host plants but not between allopatric populations on the same host plant. Thus, we provide evidence that divergent host use promotes speciation among gall wasp populations.