Analysis of haplotype diversity of an invasive leaf-eating pest Opisina arenosella

Objective  Opisina arenosella is an important invasive leaf-eating pest that attack Palmae plants. The goal was to analyze the distribution characteristics of haplotypes of O. arenosella in native and invaded zones, and reveal the insect source information of O. arenosella invading China.

Method  A total of 172 samples from 16 geographical populations were analyzed by mitochondrial COI gene, and the genetic relationship of O. arenosella from India and invading areas (China, Malaysia and Thailand) was compared.

Result  Twelve haplotypes were identified in 172 sequences with fragment length of 625 bp. Fifteen variation sites were detected in the haplotype alignment. Two obvious haplotype branches were formed, one of which was composed of 11 haplotypes IN1-IN11 and they were all from Indian populations. Haplotype IN1 was shared by six O. arenosella populations from India. IN2-IN11 were exclusive haplotypes and not shared with other populations. The other branch was haplotype HAP and shared by populations from China, Malaysia and Thailand. There were four variation sites between HAP and 11 haplotypes IN1-IN11 from India.

Conclusion  O. arenosella populations in these invading areas are from the same genotype type or have the same invasion source. O. arenosella invading populations produce new mutations or hybrids in new habitats under environmental selection pressure.