Allozyme electrophoresis showed much genetic variation in Hippodamia convergens, sug- gesting the possibility of geographic genetic differentiation. Twenty-two of 31 putative alloz- yme loci resolved on acrylamide gels from H. convergens populations were polymorphic (71%). Heterozygosity (diversity) averaged over all loci was 21.3 ? 4.2%. However, thirteen polymorphic loci examined in Fl Honduran x Iowa hybrids indicated that all alleles were shared in the two populations. In addition, no significant geographic variation was observed in developmental and reproductive responses of H. convergens from Iowa, California, and Honduras to aphid prey densities. All inter-population and backcrosses produced fertile eggs. Adult body size of H. convergens from Iowa and Honduras was similar. This study indicates that augmentatively released California H. convergens could successfully mate with local H. convergens populations in Iowa and Honduras.
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This article is from Florida Entomologist 84 (2001): 55, doi: 10.2307/3496663. Posted with permission.