Population genomics of a specialized insect, <i>Tetraopes texanus</i> (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), across a fragmented grassland system

Abstract

Specialist insects are especially susceptible to loss of genetic diversity in the face of habitat destruction and fragmentation. Implementing effective conservation practices for specialist insects will benefit from knowledge of population structure and genetic diversity. Because insects are hyper-diverse, characterizing the population structure of all species within the insect community is untenable, even if focused within a particular habitat type. Thus, concentrating on a single species specialized to a particular habitat type is needed to infer general trends. Here, we investigate the range-wide population genetics of Tetraopes texanus Horn 1878 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), which provides a useful model of grassland insects due to its' habitat specificity and unique biology. Tetraopes texanus occurs primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, into Northern Mexico, and possibly into eastern New Mexico but also occurs in Black Belt prairies of Mississippi and Alabama. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA (RAD-seq) analysis identified two distinct population clusters of T. texanus corresponding to the Texas and Oklahoma population and the Mississippi and Alabama population. Demographic models indicate ongoing, though incomplete, isolation of the two populations, with estimated dates of divergence in the mid-Pleistocene, coinciding with the end of a glacial period and a shift in glacial interval. These results can inform conservation of grassland adapted insects and offers insight to the biogeography of the Gulf Coastal Plain.