Meeting Abstract
We compared population structure of two native Hawaiian damselflies (Megalagrion nigrohamatum nigrolineatum and Megalagrion vagabundum) to study the effects of life history strategy on gene flow. The two subject species are good representatives of a habitat generalist (M. vagabundum) and an endangered damselfly that is restricted to dark pools along streams and behaviorally seems to be a poor disperser (M. n. nigrolineatum). They are a part of a highly diverse adaptive radiation of 23 damselflies, 6 of which are endangered, which have evolved different breeding site preferences. Microsatellite and COI-COII mitochondrial data showed small genetic differentiation among populations in both species. M. n. nigrolineatum showed evidence for isolation-by-distance indicating a limitation to dispersal based on geographic distance whereas a mountain ridge acted as a gene barrier in M. vagabundum. These results are discussed in view of life history differences, landscape differences, and conservation and management.
