Monitoring of Diorhabda spp. Along the Rio Grande
 
Zeynep Ozsoy1*, Amanda Stahlke2, Levi Jamison3 and Matt Johnson4
 
1Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, CO 81501 USA; aozsoy@coloradomesa.edu.
2University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA; amandastahlke@gmail.com
4EcoPlateau Research, Flagstaff, AZ, USA; Matthew.Johnson@nau.edu
 
 
Currently there are four species and five ecotypes of Diorhabda spp. present in North America as biological control agents of tamarisk.  Since their release in 2001 D. carinulata populations have established in the northern latitudes and have been expanding their range southward, whereas D.carinata, D.elongata and D.sublineata released in Texas after 2003 have been moving west-and northward.  We have monitored the movement and species composition of the Diorhabda spp. along Rio Grande from 2016 to 2019.  Using two complementary methods: the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase C subunit 1 gene and Restriction site Associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) for nuclear markers we have observed the gradual southward movement of D.carinulata and northward movement of D. sublineata and detected their overlap in 2017.   In the field hybridization between these two species was discovered for the first time in 2018.  We will be discussing the consequences and implications of these population merges for the biological control program.
 
 
 
Ozsoy_Zeynep.pdf