Formosan Entomologist (2008) 28, 305-313

Gene-Sheng Tung, Li-Wei Wu, Yuh-Shyong Yang, Chia-Chin Hsu and Man-Miao Yang (2008)
Genetic differentiation of the eulophid wasp Quadrastichus erythrinae Kim (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) from various Erythrina hosts based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes
Formosan Entomologist 28 (3-4), 305-313
Abstract: Since 2000, many Erythrina trees have been found initially wilting and later suffering die-back due to severe infestations by Quadrastichus erythrinae Kim (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Mauritius, Reunion, and in Singapore. These infestations have since spread into several tropical and subtropical countries. Various degrees of damage and different symptoms have been observed in different host species which has raised the question whether the pests all belong to the same species or not. In order to measure the differentiation in the eulophid wasps from different geographical areas and various Erythrina host plants, 36 samples on 6 host taxa from 14 localities in Taiwan and 11 samples on 2 host species from Singapore and Mauritius were collected. Singapore and Mauritius were two of the three countries included in the original description of Q. erythrinae. We analyzed the mitochondrial genes of 12S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome oxidase I, and the nuclear sequence of intergenic spacer 2 to understand their genetic variation and phylogenetic relationship. Sequences of the same region in all the three genes were identical among all the samples. The homogeneity of the genetic composition suggests that there were no cryptic species in the samples. This confirms that all the wasps sampled in this study, despite their different origin of both area and host, belong to the same species. It is evident that all these pests from these countries came from the same monomorphic genotype which quickly and widely spread to other areas.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Man-Miao Yang

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Quadrastichus erythrinae	Erythrina (crop)	Singapore
	Quadrastichus erythrinae	Erythrina (crop)	Taiwan
	Quadrastichus erythrinae	Erythrina (crop)	Mauritius
	Quadrastichus erythrinae	Erythrina (crop)	Reunion Island