One maternal lineage leads the expansion of Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae) in the New and Old Worlds.

ABSTRACT: The bronze bug, Thaumastocoris peregrinus, an Australian native insect, has become a nearly worldwide invasive pest in the last 16 years and has been causing significant damage to eucalypts (Myrtaceae), including Eucalyptus spp. and Corymbia spp. Its rapid expansion leads to new questions about pathways and routes that T. peregrinus used to invade other continents and countries. We used mtDNA to characterize specimens of T. peregrinus collected from 10 countries where this species has become established, including six recently invaded countries: Chile, Israel, Mexico, Paraguay, Portugal, and the United States of America. We then combined our mtDNA data with previous data available from South Africa, Australia, and Europe to construct a world mtDNA network of haplotypes. Haplotype A was the

SUBMITTER: Machado DDN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7044308 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature