MOLECULAR DIFFERENTIATION OF ALFALFA WEEVIL STRAINS (COLEOPTERA, CURCULIONIDAE)

Mitochondrial DNA was amplified and sequenced from eastern, western, a nd Egyptian strains of alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Cyllenhal). Eas tern and Egyptian weevils differed at only 2 nucleotide sites in 1,031 base pairs sequenced; western weevils differed by 5% sequence diverge nce. Three restriction sites were identified which separated eastern a nd western haplotypes. No intrastrain polymorphism was detected in 150 weevils from Nebraska. Collections from Lincoln in eastern Nebraska a nd Scottsbluff in western Nebraska were fixed for the eastern and west ern haplotypes, respectively. Eastern and western haplotypes were foun d together in tile same fields in a broad overlap region in central Ne braska.