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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 2, 2025

Maintaining Biological Cultures and Measuring Gene Expression in Aphis nerii: A Non-model System for Plant-insect Interactions

Maintaining Biological Cultures and Measuring Gene Expression in Aphis nerii: A Non-model System for Plant-insect Interactions

Published on: August 31, 2018

Geographic isolation drives speciation in Nearctic aphids.

Nate B Hardy¹, Chloe Kaczvinsky^2,3, Gwendolyn Bird²

¹Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA. n8@auburn.edu.

Communications Biology

|August 8, 2022

Summary

Aphid species richness is mainly driven by host-use divergence. Speciation rates, however, are more influenced by non-host niche evolution, with host-use divergence acting as a subsequent step.

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Last Updated: Sep 2, 2025

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Entomology

Background:

Species richness and host-use diversity often correlate positively in herbivorous insects.
This covariation suggests host-use divergence may drive speciation or increase ecological limits.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the causal relationships between host-use divergence, speciation rates, and species richness in Nearctic aphids.
To test whether host-use divergence drives speciation or influences ecological limits on species richness.

Main Methods:

Phylogenetic path model analyses were conducted on Nearctic aphid species diversity data.
The study examined the influence of host-use divergence and non-host niche variables on speciation and richness.

Main Results:

Variation in aphid species richness was primarily attributed to host-use divergence.
Speciation rates were more strongly influenced by divergence in non-host-related niche variables.
Host-use divergence was found to be largely a consequence of non-host niche evolution.

Conclusions:

Host-use divergence plays a dual role: it can increase ecological limits on species richness and contribute to speciation.
Non-host niche evolution appears to be a primary driver, initiating a causal pathway that includes host-use divergence and ultimately leads to speciation.