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Behavioral, Molecular, And Morphological Evidence For A Hybrid Zone Between Chrysochus Auratus And C. Cobaltinus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Merrill A. Peterson, Susanne Dobler, Jeff Holland, Lauren Tantalo, Stefanie Locke

Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

In this article, we describe a hybrid zone between the chrysomelid beetles, Chrysochus auratus (F.), andC. cobaltinus LeConte, which have historically been considered as having allopatric distributions. By combining field studies with surveys of museum specimens, we documented that in western North America there are two regions in which these beetles are sympatric, and four additional regions in which populations of the two species are Washington, we found an ≈25 km wide area of sympatry in which the two species freely interbreed. Morphological and allozyme differences between the species allowed us to demonstrate that individuals with intermediate coloration in …