Aim Primary and secondary genetic clines in post‐glacial colonized regions have different implications for biogeographic distributions and the origin of species. Primary clines arise in situ after colonization as adaptive responses to environmental gradients, while secondary clines are caused by contact between vicariant lineages. Here we analyse primary versus secondary origin of a genetic cline in the tephritid fly Urophora...

Host‐race evolution is a prime candidate for sympatric speciation because host shifts must take place in the presence of both hosts. However, the geographic context in which the shift takes place may have strong allopatric or peripatric components if the primary host within a localized area is scarce or even goes extinct. Inference of the relative importance of the geographic mode of speciation may be gained from phylogeograph...

Population genetic patterns of species at their range margin have important implications for species conservation. We performed allozyme electrophoresis of 19 loci to investigate patterns of the genetic structure of 17 populations (538 individuals) of the butterfly Polyommatus coridon , a monophagous habitat specialist with a patchy distribution. The butterfly and its larval food plant Hippocrepis comosa reach their northern d...

Aim Aglaope infausta is a thermophilous Zygaenid of Atlanto‐Mediterranean origin, distributed in Portugal, Spain, France and north‐western Italy reaching its north‐eastern distribution limit in western Germany. The local, regional and inter‐regional genetic structure of this species is studied in this analysis. Location and methods The allozymes of 456 individuals from 12 populations (11 from western Germany and one from south...

Aim The effects of glacial disjunctions on intraspecific differentiations are in the focus of phylogeographical studies. Several studies investigate the consequences of post‐glacial expansions from glacial refugia on the composition within major genetic lineages. Location and methods We analysed the geographical pattern of allozyme variation of twenty loci of Polyommatus coridon (Poda, 1761) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from thir...