Keeping your genes to yourself? A tale of Fire Ant hybridization and Green Lacewing speciation

Join us on January 17th for a talk by Dr. Elizabeth Wade. Starting at 6:30 we will share a pizza dinner in the BioPhysics building lobby at UConn. At 7:30 we will have a brief business meeting immediately followed by Dr. Wade's presentation. Details are as follows.

Abstract

The process of speciation is often slow and dynamic and even after species have diverged, the maintenance of species boundaries can be difficult. The prevention of gene flow is important for creating new species and preventing the merging of lineages. Both fire ants and green lacewings provide a glimpse into the genetics of speciation and species maintenance. The imported red fire ant and black fire ant hybridize in the United States unlike in their native South American ranges. Green lacewings in the Chrysoperla carnea-group have undergone a recent rapid radiation resulting in 21 morphologically cryptic species that are differentiated based on their substrate-borne vibrational songs.