Ap. Vogler et al., USING MOLECULAR AND ECOLOGICAL DATA TO DIAGNOSE ENDANGERED POPULATIONS OF THE PURITAN TIGER BEETLE CICINDELA-PURITANA, Molecular ecology, 2(6), 1993, pp. 375-383
Populations of the puritan tiger beetle Cicindela puritana in the east
ern United States were found to be highly threatened at the Connecticu
t River, whereas several large populations on the western shore and ne
wly discovered populations on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay
appeared to be less endangered. We assessed if the disjunct C. puritan
a subgroups are genetically distinct and therefore should be treated a
s separate units for conservation purposes. A total of 13 individuals
from the Connecticut River and 27 individuals from the Chesapeake Bay
were each analysed by sequencing of up to 837 base pairs of mitochondr
ial DNA per individual. Five different haplotypes could be distinguish
ed. In a phylogenetic analysis of these DNA sequences that included fo
ur related Cicindela species as out-groups, haplotypes from the Chesap
eake Bay represent a distinct clade. The conservation status of these
populations was evaluated using a phylogenetic approach based on cladi
stic analysis and the framework of the phylogenetic species concept. A
ccording to this analysis, beetles from the Connecticut River and the
Chesapeake Bay have to be considered as independent units. Populations
from the eastern and western shore of Chesapeake Bay are not split in
more than one unit using the same criteria, although they exhibited s
ome degree of genetic subdivision. The results from the mtDNA analysis
were corroborated by ecological parameters in that the Chesapeake Bay
populations can be distinguished from all congeners by their differen
t habitat association.