Effects of Geographic Distance, Landscape Features and Host Adaptations on Genetic Differentiation Among Populations of a Checkerspot Butterfly: An Integrative Approach

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The investigators propose to use a combination of behavioral, ecological and genetic techniques to understand the development of genetic differentiation among populations of a butterfly species, Euphydryas editha. One outcome of this study will be an analysis of past and current movement patterns of these butterflies among habitats of different types. The investigators will ask whether and to what extent the movements of insects among habitats depend on the distance between those habitats, the nature of the landscape in the intervening terrain, and the adaptations of the insects to particular host plant species.Plant-feeding insects possess sophisticated behavioral mechanisms for choosing their hosts, that is, the plants on which they feed. Understanding of the basic biology of these mechanisms is important in several contexts. It assists humans in tracking and predicting the changes of diet that insects undergo, changes that are involved in the transformation of innocuous insects to crop pests. It also helps in assessment and manipulation of the quality of habitats for endangered insect species. This is because insects that are introduced to a restored habitat will leave if they are not sufficiently attracted to the plants that are present. The proposed work includes populations that are closely related to a federally endangered sub-species, and will assess how the food preferences of these insects should influence plans for habitat restoration and conservation.