Determining the geographic origin of invasive populations of the mealybug Planococcus ficus based on molecular genetic analysis.

ABSTRACT: Determining the most likely source of an invasive pest species might help to improve their management by establishing efficient quarantine measures and heading the search of efficient biological control agents. Planococcus ficus is an invasive mealybug pest of vineyards in Argentina, California, Mexico, Peru and South Africa. This mealybug pest had a previously known geographic distribution spanning southern Europe, the Middle East, and parts of northern Africa. In North America, Pl. ficus was first discovered in the early 1990s and soon thereafter in Mexico. To determine the origin of invasive populations in North America, Pl. ficus from California and Mexico were compared with material throughout its presumptive native range in the Mediterranean region, as well as material collected from

SUBMITTER: Daane KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5863958 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature