Transposable elements differ between geographic populations of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).

Agricultural insect herbivores show a remarkable ability to adapt to modern agroecosystems, making them ideal for the study of the mechanisms underlying rapid evolution. The mobilization of transposable elements is one mechanism that may help explain this ability. The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, is a highly adaptable species, as shown by its wide host range, broad geographic distribution, and tolerance to insecticides.

Insecticide exposure affects intergenerational patterns of DNA methylation in the Colorado potato beetle, .

Insecticide use is pervasive as a selective force in modern agroecosystems. Insect herbivores exposed to these insecticides have been able to rapidly evolve resistance to them, but how they are able to do so is poorly understood. One possible but largely unexplored explanation is that exposure to sublethal doses of insecticides may alter epigenetic patterns that are heritable.

Elevated rates of positive selection drive the evolution of pestiferousness in the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata, Say).

Contextualizing evolutionary history and identifying genomic features of an insect that might contribute to its pest status is important in developing early detection and control tactics. In order to understand the evolution of pestiferousness, which we define as the accumulation of traits that contribute to an insect population's success in an agroecosystem, we tested the importance of known genomic properties associated with rapid adaptation in the Colorado potato beetle (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say. Within the leaf beetle genus Leptinotarsa, only CPB, and a few populations therein, has risen to pest status on cultivated nightshades, Solanum.

Transgenerational effects of insecticides-implications for rapid pest evolution in agroecosystems.

Although pesticides are a major selective force in driving the evolution of insect pests, the evolutionary processes that give rise to insecticide resistance remain poorly understood. Insecticide resistance has been widely observed to increase with frequent and intense insecticide exposure, but can be lost following the relaxation of insecticide use. One possible but rarely explored explanation is that insecticide resistance may be associated with epigenetic modifications, which influence the patterning of gene expression without changing underlying DNA sequence.

Pesticide durability and the evolution of resistance: A novel application of survival analysis.

Background: Arthropod pests are widely perceived to evolve resistance to insecticides at different rates. Although widespread "successful" species are assumed to evolve quickly and minor pests slowly, few studies have utilized published data on resistance events to test for differences among species. Using 532 records from the Arthropod Pesticide Resistance Database covering 20 species, we applied a survival analysis to model the number of generations from insecticide introduction to the first report of arthropod resistance, providing one of the most comprehensive analyses of this question to date.