Whole genome analyses reveal weak signatures of population structure and environmentally associated local adaptation in an important North American pollinator, the bumble bee Bombus vosnesenskii.

Studies of species that experience environmental heterogeneity across their distributions have become an important tool for understanding mechanisms of adaptation and predicting responses to climate change. We examine population structure, demographic history and environmentally associated genomic variation in Bombus vosnesenskii, a common bumble bee in the western USA, using whole genome resequencing of populations distributed across a broad range of latitudes and elevations. We find that B.

Biogeographic parallels in thermal tolerance and gene expression variation under temperature stress in a widespread bumble bee.

Global temperature changes have emphasized the need to understand how species adapt to thermal stress across their ranges. Genetic mechanisms may contribute to variation in thermal tolerance, providing evidence for how organisms adapt to local environments. We determine physiological thermal limits and characterize genome-wide transcriptional changes at these limits in bumble bees using laboratory-reared Bombus vosnesenskii workers.

Distance, elevation and environment as drivers of diversity and divergence in bumble bees across latitude and altitude.

Identifying drivers of dispersal limitation and genetic differentiation is a key goal in biogeography. We examine patterns of population connectivity and genetic diversity using restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) in two bumble bee species, Bombus vosnesenskii and Bombus bifarius, across latitude and altitude in mountain ranges from California, Oregon and Washington, U.S.

Population genomics of divergence among extreme and intermediate color forms in a polymorphic insect.

Geographic variation in insect coloration is among the most intriguing examples of rapid phenotypic evolution and provides opportunities to study mechanisms of phenotypic change and diversification in closely related lineages. The bumble bee Bombus bifarius comprises two geographically disparate color groups characterized by red-banded and black-banded abdominal pigmentation, but with a range of spatially and phenotypically intermediate populations across western North America. Microsatellite analyses have revealed that B.