Abstract
Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) has become the most destructive subterranean termite pest, on urban structures in Nebraska. In this study, we used seven microsatellite loci to infer the colony breeding system and population genetic structure among 20 infested urban structures in Nebraska. Our data revealed that 17 structures were infested by simple family colonies of R. flavipes, while, the remaining three were infested with mixed family colonies. The measure of population differentiation, FCT value (0.459) indicated that all the 20 urban colonies (10 - 410 km apart) represented pronounced levels of genetic differentiation. The Mantel test disclosed a weak and significantly-positive correlation between genetic and geographic distance (slope = 0.0009, P = 0.001). The urban populations of R. flavipes in Nebraska possessed a breeding system characterized by monogamous pairs of outbred reproductives with excessive heterozygosity.
Highlights
Termite infestation of urban structures and landscapes can create very serious economic and environmental problems (Chapman & Bourke, 2001)
Successful expansion of new intrusive species is largely due to a breeding system (Ross, 2001)
Samples of R. flavipes were collected from 20 infested buildings in Nebraska (Fig 1, Table 1) during 2010 - 2011
Summary
Termite infestation of urban structures and landscapes can create very serious economic and environmental problems (Chapman & Bourke, 2001). Successful expansion of new intrusive species is largely due to a breeding system (Ross, 2001). The breeding system consists of important reproductive characteristics of social organisms, including the number of breeders in a social group, the genetic relationships of these breeders, and the extent of variation in parentage among same sex-breeders (Wade & Kalisz, 1990; Ross et al, 1993). Dispersal of intrusive species into a new territory affects the propensity to monopolize a new habitat. The most likely reason is the new environment and ecology lead to a variation in the breeding system (Porter et al, 1997). A thorough investigation of the breeding system of intrusive social insects is fundamental to further comprehend the association between their social structure, dispersal and invasion success
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