Applied Entomology and Zoology (2018) 53, 373-380
Namphueng Chomphukhiao, Shun-ichiro Takano, Keiji Takasu and Sopon Uraichuen (2018)
Existence of two strains of Habrobracon hebetor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): a complex in Thailand and Japan
Applied Entomology and Zoology 53 (3), 373-380
Abstract: Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a cosmopolitan gregarious ectoparasitoid that attacks larvae of several species of Lepidoptera. Although there are two genetically different strains within H. hebetor, distribution of the strains has been poorly understood. In 2010, in Thailand, where H. hebetor has been known as a parasitoid of stored grain pests, it was found that H. hebetor attacked Opisina arenosella Walker (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae), which is an invasive pest of coconut palm. For correct identification of this H. hebetor, we conducted DNA analysis and cross tests using populations collected from O. arenosella and stored grain pests in Thailand and populations in Japan known as H. hebetor. We obtained 413 bp of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences and 414 bp of 16S rRNA gene sequences, and both indicated that there are two distinct clades within H. hebetor: one contains insects from Thailand, Spain, India, and Barbados; the other contains insects from Japan and the USA. There were no genetic differences or sexual isolation between Thai populations from different hosts. Our results also showed that populations in Thailand were sexually isolated from a H. hebetor population in Japan.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Keiji Takasu
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
identification/taxonomy
molecular biology - genes
