Color morphs of western flower thrips in California: Phenotypic or genetic variation?
O¨Donnell C
University of California Davis, One Shields Avenue Davis California 95616, USA
Correspondence: caodonnell@ucdavis.edu
Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), is a well known pest in California and is polymorphic for color, with populations varying from nearly black to pale yellow. This type of color polymorphism has been noted throughout the global distribution of this insect. Several hypotheses have been proposed for why these color morphs occur, i.e. variation in temperature or host plant, or genetic differences within the species. We have compared sequence data from the nuclear gene ITS and the mitochondrial genes COI and 16S to analyze genetic variation among western flower thrips from many regions of California, as well as selected populations from Europe, Asia, India and several states in the USA. A dendrogram revealing the relationship between color polymorphism and genetic similarity in western flower thrips will be presented.
