Electrophoretic comparisons of pheromotypes of the dingy cutworm, Feltia jaculifera (Gn.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

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Abstract
Males of four "sibling species" of Feltia jaculifera, characterized by their mate-recognition system (pheromotype), were examined for electrophoretic variation. Arginine phosphokinase was monomorphic but 14 other enzymes and 1 protein were polymorphic in one or more populations. No locus was diagnostic for any pheromotype. Mean heterozygosity per locus varied from 21 ± 7.8% to 26.7 ± 6.7%, the effective number of alleles per locus varied from 2.19 ± 0.43 to 3.44 ± 0.59, and from 4 to 11 loci were polymorphic in each population. Phenograms indicate that pheromotypes A, B, and D are genetically similar, whilst pheromotype C is distinctly different. Allele frequencies, FST values, and the large percentage (34–43%) of private alleles in sympatric populations of the pheromotypes indicate a genetic substructuring of the nominal species. However, the level of genetic differentiation among pheromotypes A, B, and D is well below that characteristic of sibling species. Nm values suggest that there is sufficient interbreeding between sympatric populations of pheromotypes A and B to preclude genetic differentiation due to drift. The evidence indicates that discrete mate-recognition systems can be achieved without much allozymic differentiation and can be maintained in spite of significant gene flow.

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