California-conservation-genomics-project
Guides
Chrysomela aeneicollis
Willow Leaf Beetle
Chrysomela aeneicollis is a willow leaf beetle in the family Chrysomelidae that has served as an important model organism for studies of natural selection, climate adaptation, and conservation genomics. Populations in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California have been studied intensively since 1984 to understand how montane insects respond to thermal variation, reduced oxygen availability, and environmental change. The species sequesters salicin from host willows to produce defensive salicylaldehyde secretions, though these are ineffective against specialist predators. It is included in the California Conservation Genomics Project due to its documented population structure and genetic variation along environmental gradients.