Genome‐wide SNPs reveal fine‐scale differentiation among wingless alpine stonefly populations and introgression between winged and wingless forms

Insect flight loss is a repeated phenomenon in alpine habitats, where wing reduction is thought to enhance local recruitment and increase fecundity. One predicted consequence of flight loss is reduced dispersal ability, which should lead to population genetic differentiation and perhaps ultimately to speciation. Using a dataset of 15,123 SNP loci, we present comparative analyses of fine‐scale population structure in codistributed Zelandoperla stonefly species, across three parallel altitudinal transects in New Zealand's Rock and Pillar mountain range. We find that winged populations (altitude 200–500 m; Zelandoperla decorata ) show no genetic structuring within or among streams, suggesting substantial dispersal mediated by flight. By contrast, wingless populations ( Zelandoperla fenestrata ; altitude 200–1100 m) exhibit distinct genetic clusters associated with each stream, and additional evidence of isolation by distance within streams. Our data support the hypothesis that wing‐loss can initiate diversification in alpine insect populations over small spatial scales. The often deep phylogenetic placement of lowland Z. fenestrata within their stream‐specific clades suggests the possibility of independent alpine colonization events for each stream. Additionally, the detection of winged, interspecific hybrid individuals raises the intriguing possibility that a previously flightless lineage could reacquire flight via introgression.