Isolation and characterization of nine microsatellite loci in an ant-tended treehopper Publilia concava

Publilia concava is an eastern North American membracid commonly occurring in large but spatially patchy aggregations, primarily on the host plant Solidago altissima. Like other myrmecophiles, P. concava provides sugary excretions to ants in return for the various protective, competitive or even sanitary benefits that ants provide. We developed nine microsatellite loci from P. concava. Mean per locus allele number was 6.78, and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.03 to 0.850. One locus exhibited significant heterozygote deficit, possibly due to the presence of null alleles. These markers provide important tools for future spatial ecological studies in this model system for the study of mutualism.