Analysis of Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Olethreutinae) mitochondrial genomes in the context of a recent host range expansion.

Background: The false codling moth (FCM), Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick, 1913), is a significant pest of various important economic crops and is a EU quarantine pest. In the last decade the pest has been reported on Rosa spp. In this study we determined whether this shift occurred within specific FCM populations across seven eastern sub-Saharan countries or whether the species opportunistically switches to this novel host as it presents itself.

Does a shift in host plants trigger speciation in the Alpine leaf beetle Oreina speciosissima (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae)?

Background: Within the Coleoptera, the largest order in the animal kingdom, the exclusively herbivorous Chrysomelidae are recognized as one of the most species rich beetle families. The evolutionary processes that have fueled radiation into the more than thirty-five thousand currently recognized leaf beetle species remain partly unresolved. The prominent role of leaf beetles in the insect world, their omnipresence across all terrestrial biomes and their economic importance as common agricultural pest organisms make this family particularly interesting for studying the mechanisms that drive diversification.

Positive frequency-dependent selection on warning color in Alpine leaf beetles.

Müller's theory of warning color and mimicry, despite forming a textbook example of frequency-dependent selection, has rarely been demonstrated in the wild. This may be largely due to the practical and statistical difficulties of measuring natural selection on mobile prey species. Here we demonstrate that this selection acts in alpine beetle communities by using tethered beetles exposed to natural predators.