Data for: Phylogeography and populations genetics of a widespread cold-adapted ant, Prenolepis imparis

Historical climate fluctuations have left genetic signatures on species
and populations across North America. Here, we used phylogenetic
and population genetic analyses from 1,402 orthologous sequences
of 75 individuals obtained through sequencing of Ultraconserved
Elements (UCEs) to identify population genetic structure and
historical demographic patterns across the range of a widespread,
cold-adapted ant, the winter ant, Prenolepis imparis. We relate
the genomic patterns to those expected as a result of in
situ diversification, maintained connectivity, or recent
migration. We recovered five well-supported, genetically isolated clades
across the distribution: 1) a basal lineage located in Florida,
2) populations across the southern United States, 3) populations that span
the midwestern and northeastern United States, 4) populations
from the western United States, and 5) populations in
southwestern Arizona and Mexico. Using Bayesian clustering
analysis in STRUCTURE and k-means clustering in
ADEGENET, we investigated gene flow between these major genetic
clades and did not find evidence of gene flow between clades. We
did find evidence of localized structure with migration in the
western United States clade. High support for five major
geographic lineages and lack of evidence of contemporary gene
flow indicate in situ diversification across the
species’ range, probably influenced by glacial cycles of the late
Quaternary.