Author ORCID Identifier

0009-0009-1189-7013

Month/Year of Graduation

5-2024

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Paul Ayayee

Abstract

The unique milk production of Diploptera punctata makes this species a promising model species in entomology for studying the evolution of milk production and for insect endocrinology. Despite this, the genetic diversity of captive populations of the species is not well studied. To better evaluate the captive diversity and population dynamics of Diploptera punctata at UNO we extracted the DNA of 20 random individuals and amplified their DNA using 4 different primers before cleaning the amplified products and sequencing the genes of the samples for use in both individual and concatenated phylogenetic trees. Our results indicate the UNO colony of Diploptera punctata has a relatively low diversity in comparison to other members of their species. Additionally, we found that the LCO gene in Diploptera punctata varies widely and is closer to Diploptera minor than other members of the same species in some instances, possibly indicating that the genes of the Diploptera punctata samples have been evolving in a different manner than the species.

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