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The phylogenetic relationships of introduced Aphelinus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), biological control agents of the Russian wheat aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae)
Author(s) -
Zhu Yu Cheng,
Fang Quentin Q.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
insect science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.991
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1744-7917
pISSN - 1672-9609
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7917.2009.01249.x
Subject(s) - biology , aphelinidae , aphididae , phylogenetic tree , monophyly , botany , clade , homoptera , ribosomal dna , aphid , phylogenetics , biological pest control , zoology , genetics , pest analysis , gene
Several species of Aphelinus have been introduced to the US from the Old World for biological control of the Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Modvilko). Reproductive incompatibility has been observed among populations collected from different geographic areas. We examined whether or not the reproductive incompatibility between strains of A. asychis was caused by distant phylogenetic relationships. Ribosomal DNA sequences of internal transcribed spacers 2 (ITS2) were analyzed in several species of Aphelinus collected from multiple sites of Europe and Asia. The phylogenetic analysis showed that strains within the species A. albipodus and A. asychis are not monophyletic, and two clearly divergent clades were revealed among sequenced samples. Our results suggest that the reproductive incompatibility between three exotic strains of A. asychis was more likely caused by divergence of phylogeny than by symbiotic bacteria.