Allozyme Gene Diversities in Some Leaf Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Gene diversity at allozyme loci was investigatedin the bean leaf beetle, Ceratoma trifurcataForster; the elm leaf beetle, Xanthogalerucaluteola (Muller); the cottonwood leaf beetle,Chrysomela scripta Fabricus; the western cornrootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgiferaLeConte; the southern corn rootworm, also called thespotted cucumber beetle, D. undecimpunctatahowardi Baker; the northern corn rootworm, D. barberi Smith and Lawrence; and theColorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say).Six of these species are economically important pests ofcrops and display adaptive traits that may correlate with genetic diversity. Gene diversityHE in bean leaf beetles was 17.7 ±4.0% among 32 loci. In western corn rootworms, HE = 4.8 ± 2.0% among 36 loci, and inspotted cucumber beetles, HE = 11.9 ± 2.7%among 39 loci. Diversity among 27 loci was 10.5 ±4.3% in the Colorado potato beetle. The data werecompared with gene diversity estimates from other leafbeetle species in which heterozygosities varied from0.3 to 21% and no correlation was detected amongheterozygosities, geographic ranges, or populationdensities. Distributions of single-locusheterozygosities were consistent with selective neutrality ofalleles.