Molecular Ecology (2011) 20, 1635-1646

A.W. Ridley, J.P. Hereward, G.J. Daglish, S. Raghu, P.J. Collins and G.H. Walter (2011)
The spatiotemporal dynamics of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst): adult flight and gene flow
Molecular Ecology 20 (8), 1635-1646
Abstract: Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) has been used as a model organism to develop and test important ecological and evolutionary concepts and is also a major pest of grain and grain products globally. This beetle species is assumed to be a good colonizer of grain storages through anthropogenic movement of grain, and active dispersal by flight is considered unlikely. Studies using T. castaneum have therefore used confined or walking insects. We combine an ecological study of dispersal with an analysis of gene flow using microsatellites to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics and adult flight of T. castaneum in an ecological landscape in eastern Australia. Flying beetles were caught in traps at grain storages and in fields at least 1 km from the nearest stored grain at regular intervals for an entire year. Significantly more beetles were trapped at storages than in fields, and almost no beetles were caught in native vegetation reserves many kilometres from the nearest stored grain. Genetic differentiation between beetles caught at storages and in fields was low, indicating that although T. castaneum is predominantly aggregated around grain storages, active dispersal takes place to the extent that significant gene flow occurs between them, mitigating founder effects and genetic drift. By combining ecological and molecular techniques, we reveal much higher levels of active dispersal through adult flight in T. castaneum than previously thought. We conclude that the implications of adult flight to previous and future studies on this model organism warrant consideration.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Patrick J. Collins, Gimme H. Walter

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Tribolium castaneum