Patterns of local and regional genetic structuring in the meadow grasshopper,Chorthippus parallelus (Orthoptera: Acrididae), in Central Germany revealed using microsatellite markers

The meadow grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus (Zetterstedt), is common and widespread in Central Europe, with a low dispersal range per generation. A population study in Central Germany (Frankenwald and Thüringer Schiefergebirge) showed strong interpopulation differences in abundance and individual fitness. We examined genetic variability using microsatellite markers within and between 22 populations in a short‐ to long‐distance sampling (19 populations, Frankenwald, Schiefergebirge, as well as a southern transect), and in the Erzgebirge region (three populations), with the latter aiming to check for effects as a result of historical forest cover. Of the 671 C. parallelus captured, none was macropterous (functionally winged). All populations showed a high level of expected and observed heterozygosity (mean 0.80–0.90 and 0.60–0.75, respectively), whereas there was evidence of inbreeding (F_IS values all positive). Allelic richness for all locus–population combinations was high (mean 9.3–11.2), whereas alleles per locus ranged from 15–62. At a local level, genic and genotypic differences were significant. Pairwise F_ST values were in the range 0.00–0.04, indicating little interpopulation genetic differentiation. Similarly, the calculated gene flow was very high, based on the respective F_ST (19.5) and using private alleles (7.7). A Neighbour‐joining tree using Nei's D_A and principal coordinate analysis separated two populations that were collected in the Erzgebirge region. Populations from this region may have escaped the effects of the historical forest cover. The visualization of the spatial arrangement of genotypes revealed one geographical barrier to gene flow in the short‐distance sampling. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 103 , 875–890.