IS THE GLASSY-WINGED SHARPSHOOTER PARASITOID GONATOCERUS MORRILLI ONE SPECIES OR A COMPLEX OF CLOSELY RELATED SIBLING SPECIES?

• Author(s): Hoddle, Mark; Stouthamer, R; Oosten, Herman; Triapitsyn, Serguei;
• Abstract: The aim of the present study was to determine whether the egg parasitoid Gonatocerus morrilli Howard is one species or a complex of closely related sibling species. To unravel their identity we sampled specimens from Texas (TX), California (CA), Veracruz in Mexico (MX), and Tucuman in Argentina (AG) and compared them using three approaches: 1) morphological differences; 2) molecular differences in ribosomal regions: ITS1, ITS2 and 28SD2, and the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (CO1); and 3) by performing cross mating compatibility studies between parasitoids from the four regions. According to the obtained large differences in sequences and the reproductive incompatibility between the four populations, these near morrilli populations are best treated as distinct species.
• Publication Date: Dec 2005
• Journal: 2005 Pierce's Disease Research Symposium