Proposal of new specific status for tea-infesting populations of the nominal citrus spiny whitefly Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)

Abstract

The citrus spiny whitefly Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Quaintance) is a pest of citrus plants that is native to South-East Asia. Although serious outbreaks of the tea-infesting whitefly in China, Taiwan and Japan have been attributed to this species over the last 20 years, recent research has shown different host preferences between the two whiteflies. Hence, the two pests have tentatively been differentiated as tea-infesting and citrus-infesting populations. We further compared morphological, acoustic and genomic features between the two populations in Japan. Morphological differences were recognised in the arrangement of spines, porettes and papillae on the dorsal disc and number of marginal crenulations and marginal waxy fringe of 4 th -instar nymphs, as well as wing maculation and genitalic organs of adults. In courtship behaviour, the acoustic properties of male vibratory signals also differed between the two. Furthermore, genetic analysis of mtCOI sequences (759 bp) showed that the tea-infesting population was clearly distinct from the citrus-infesting group, with high bootstrap values. The mtCOI sequence identities were 76.2% between the two populations. Genetic differentiation between the two populations was shown by the high value (0.99650) of pairwise Fst, indicating the sexual isolation of the two populations. Consequently, these two populations are regarded as different representatives, consisting of a sibling relationship, but clearly distinguished from each other as independent genomic populations. Here, we describe the tea-infesting population and propose a new scientific name, Aleurocanthus camelliae Kanmiya & Kasai sp. nov., and a new common name, camellia spiny whitefly, thus distinguishing it from A. spiniferus (Quaintance), the citrus spiny whitefly that constitutes the citrus-infesting population.

The Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Aleurocanthus camelliae: Insights into Gene Arrangement and Genome Organization within the Family Aleyrodidae

“…The camellia spiny whiteflies were collected at tea plantation in Yongchuan, Chongqing, China in 16 March 2015, and identified to species by morphology [2] and sequence of cox1 [2,44] in 30 March 2015. Voucher specimens (#CQNKY-HE-02-01-01) were deposited at the Insect Collection, Tea Research Institute of Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Science, Chongqing, China.…”

“…Over the last decade, the mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences have been frequently used to study species discrimination [1,2], molecule evolution [3,4,5,6], phylogenetic inferences [3,4,7,8] and population genetics [9,10], due to their small genome size, rapid evolutionary rate, low level or absence of sequence recombination and evolutionary conserved gene products [11,12]. With a few exceptions, animal mt genome is typically a circular double strand DNA molecule, with a size of 13–20 kb, consisting of a putative control region (CR) and 37 genes: 13 protein-coding genes (PCG), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA), and 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNA) [13,14,15,16,17].…”

Microsatellite Markers forAleurocanthus spiniferus(Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and Their Potential use in Whiteflies

“…; Rutaceae) and tea (Camelia sinensis (L.) Kuntze; Ericales: Theaceae), and several serious outbreaks of a tea-infesting whitefly in China and Japan have been attributed to this species over the last 20 yr (Kanmiya et al 2011). The citrus spiny whitefly affects host plants by removal of plant sap, but whiteflies also cause indirect damage by producing honeydew, which promotes sooty mold.…”

“…Fu & Han (2007) preliminarily analyzed the genetic diversity of A. spiniferus from 7 populations in eastern China using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Kanmiya et al (2011) proposed new specific status for tea-infesting populations of the nominal citrus spiny whitefly A. spiniferus using molecular marker (mtCOI gene), morphological and acoustic analysis to distinguish it from A. spiniferus that constitutes the citrus-infesting population. However, genetic diversity for A. spiniferus has not been comprehensively investigated, and it is poorly understood.…”

Characterization of Paecilomyces cinnamomeus from the camellia whitefly, Aleurocanthus camelliae (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), infesting tea in Japan

“…Infested tea plants were weakened due to sap loss and to the growth of sooty mold on honeydew-covered leaf surfaces during heavy infestations. Recently this whitefly has been described as a new species, Aleurocanthus camelliae Kanmiya and Kasai (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), Originally it had been thought to be A. spiniferus (Quaintance), a species infesting tea in China (Kanmiya et al, 2011). It is believed that A. camelliae was introduced to Japan from China (Kasai et al, 2010).…”