Abstract
Ecotypes, strains locally adapted to divergent ecological conditions, are often considered to be the first steps in sympatric speciation. It has been suggested that two distinguishable ecotypes hint at incipient sympatric speciation in Nasonia vitripennis, the prominent model organism for parasitoid wasps, with one ecotype parasitizing fly pupae in bird nests, and the other parasitizing fly pupae on carrion. In the present study, we investigated the differentiation into these two distinct ecotypes on a population genetic and on a phenotypic level in a wild N. vitripennis population in the Netherlands. Isofemale lines were obtained from bird nest boxes and from deer carrion, respectively, representing both microhabitats. Using a panel of 14 microsatellites, we determined the population genetic structure and tested for genetic differentiation between the foundresses obtained from both microhabitats. To test for phenotypic differentiation, we determined the cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles from wasps of both microhabitats. Both the genetic and the phenotypic datasets show no evidence for any kind of separation based on the postulated two ecotypes, but rather suggest free interbreeding with no gene flow interruption between the two distinct host patches. This challenges previous assumptions on distinguishable ecotypes in N. vitripennis, and invites a re-evaluation of potential ecological speciation mechanisms in parasitoid wasps.
This dataset contains:
1) microsatellite data for 14 loci 25 N. vitripennis females collected in 2018 in the Hoge Veluwe in The Netherlands (HV2018_MicrosatelliteDataset.csv)
2) Raw data of GC-MS profiles of cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) of N.vitripennis males and females from iso-female lines collected in 2018 in the Hoge Veluwe in The Netherlands (HV2018_CHC_RawData.tar) and an overview (HV2018_GCMS_Data.csv).
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