Ecological genomics in NZ: human-induced evolution of insect color and wing phenotypes

Rapid adaptation is thought critical for the survival of species under global change, but our understanding of human-induced evolution in the wild remains limited. In New Zealand, widespread deforestation has underpinned repeated color and wing-phenotype shifts in wild insect populations. Loss of forest has led to color changes across Zelandoperla stonefly lineages that mimic the warning coloration of an unrelated toxic forest stonefly. Predation experiments suggest that the relative fitness of color phenotypes varies between forested and deforested habitats. Genomic and coloration analyses of 1200 specimens show repeated selection at the ebony locus controlling color polymorphism across lineages, representing an example of human-driven evolution linked to altered species interactions. Similarly, anthropogenic deforestation has selected for non-dispersive phenotypes, with wing reduction linked to repeated selection at the AGGF1 locus. These findings highlight the possibility for wild populations to adapt rapidly in the wake of sudden environmental change.

Speaker: Jon Waters, University of Otago, New Zealand