Data from: Comparative multi-locus phylogeography of two Palaearctic spruce bark beetles: influence of contrasting ecological strategies on genetic variation

We focused on two Eurasian spruce bark beetles that share a similar geographical distribution, but differ in their ecological strategies. Ips typographus is an aggressive tree-killing species characterized by strong dispersal, whereas Dendroctonus micans is a discrete inbreeding species, parasite of living-trees and featuring low levels of dispersion. We compared their geographic patterns of genetic variation with five independent gene fragments over their entire range in Eurasia. We highlighted two widely divergent patterns of genetic variation for the two species, and argue that the difference is compatible with their contrasting dispersal strategies and modes of reproduction. In addition, genetic structure in I. typographus divides European populations in a northern and a southern group, as was previously observed for its host plant, and suggests past allopatric divergence. A long divergence time is estimated between East Asian and other populations of both species, indicating their long-standing presence in Eurasia, since at least the last glacial maximum. Also, the strong phylogeographic structure observed in D. micans for the mitochondrial locus enabled us to trace the recent colonisation history of this species, from its native European range to regions were it was recently introduced.