BMC Genomics (2022) 23 (793) - Utilisation of a mitochondrial

Kelsey J. Andrews, Rachelle Bester, Aruna Manrakhan and Hans J. Maree (2022)
Utilisation of a mitochondrial intergenic region for species differentiation of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in South Africa
BMC Genomics 23 (793)
Abstract: Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) comprise species of agricultural and economic importance. Five such fruit fly species are known to affect commercial fruit production and export in South Africa: Ceratitis capitata, Ceratitis cosyra, Ceratitis rosa, Ceratitis quilicii, and Bactrocera dorsalis. Management practices for these pests include monitoring, application of pest control products, post-harvest disinfestation measures and inspection of consignments both prior to shipment and at ports of entry. In activities relating to monitoring and inspection, accurate identification of these pests to species level is required. While morphological keys for adult stages of these fruit fly species have been well developed, morphological keys for earlier life stages remain problematic. In instances where closely related species cannot be reliably distinguished morphologically, there is a need for molecular tools to assist in identifying these five fruit fly species during surveillance practices, where sequencing-based approaches would be beneficial.
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Database assignments for author(s): Aruna Manrakhan

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution
identification/taxonomy

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bactrocera dorsalis		South Africa
	Ceratitis capitata		South Africa
	Ceratitis rosa		South Africa
	Ceratitis cosyra		South Africa
	Ceratitis quilicii		South Africa