Genetic Differentiation among Mountain Pine Beetle Populations from Lodgepole Pine and Ponderosa Pine in Northeast Utah1

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Abstract
Isozyme comparisons were made among mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) from 4 sites in NE Utah. Genetic differentiation was more closely associated with host tree species—lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelmann) vs. ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa Lawson)—than with geographic distances among sites. Differences in average heterozygosity and frequencies at certain gene loci may be related to stage in the infestation cycle or environmental stress related to food quantity. Differences were small between males and females at any one site but among sites males showed greater differences than did females. A difference in gene frequencies between early- and late-emerging beetles was found at one site.