New insights on pest fruit fly species across oceanic islands

Species distributed across oceanic islands can have strong population structures due to genetic isolation. For example, the mango fruit fly, Bactrocera frauenfeldi, is currently considered one of several similar members in a species group, including three major pests, distributed throughout Southeast Asia, Australasia and Oceania. In a study published in Systematic Entomologyresearchers used phylogenomy — the intersection of the fields of evolution and genomics — to evaluate the relationships between species in the B. frauenfeldi species complex and two closely related species.

Based on structural, biogeography and phylogenetic analyses, the team concluded that there are five different species in the complex, and that the differences between B. frauenfeldi and B. albistrigata pests are part of a continuum that cannot be separated into different species. evolutionary groups.

The researchers also found that a method considered a universal identifier for all animals could not reliably distinguish between most of the species they studied.

They emphasized that understanding the evolutionary relationships between the different species in this group will provide vital data that will aid pest control, impact international agricultural trade and contribute to a better understanding of how species diversify and specialize on different islands.

“Phylogenomic methods allow us to settle disputes over species boundaries that have been unclear for decades, and significantly advance the management of pest species on a global scale,” said lead author Camiel Doorenweerd, Ph.D., of the University of Hawaii.