Forty three European population samples of mealy aphids from various winter and summer host plants were attributed to respective species of Hyalopterus by means of their partial sequences of mitochondrial COI gene. Used Hyalopterus samples emerged as monophyletic relative to outgroup and formed three major clades representing three host specific mealy aphid species in the Neighbor joining, Maximum parsimony, Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference trees. Hyalopterus pruni and Hyalopterus persikonus emerged as a sister species, whilst Hyalopterus amygdali was located basally. Samples representing different clades in the molecular trees were used for canonical discrimination analysis based on twenty two morphological characters. Length of the median dorsal head hair enabled a 97.3 % separation of Hyalopterus amygdali from the remaining two species. No single character enabled satisfactory discrimination between apterous viviparous females of Hyalopterus pruni and Hyalopterus persikonus. A modified key for the morphological identification of Hyalopterus species is suggested and their taxonomic status discussed.

A comparison of the plum aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) guild structure in Lithuania before (1975) and after (2012) the establishment of the invasive aphid species Brachycaudus divaricatae Shaposhnikov, 1956, was performed to investigate the impact of this invasive species on the native species complex. No substantial changes in the native plum aphid species composition, host plant associations and seasonal frequency dynamics were detected. The incorporation of B. divaricatae into the plum aphid guild in the eastern Baltic region of Europe was found to have increased the stability of the guild. Such an effect is explainable by the diversification of the guild structure (one more species incorporated in the food chain) and increased effectiveness of the use of resources (cherry plum was underexploited before the invasion of the new aphid species).

Citation: Rakauskas R, Havelka J, Zaremba A, Bernotienė R (2014) Mitochondrial COI and morphological evidence for host specificity of the black cherry aphids Myzus cerasi (Fabricius, 1775) collected from different cherry tree species in Europe (Hemiptera, Aphididae). ZooKeys 388: 1-16. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.388.7034 AbstractPartial sequences of the mitochondrial COI gene of forty eight European and two Turkish population samples of Myzus cerasi from different winter hosts (Prunus spp.) were subjected to phylogenetic analyses. The analysed M. cerasi samples emerged as paraphyletic relative to a Myzus borealis sample used as an outgroup, and formed two major clades in neighbor joining, maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference trees, corresponding to subspecies living specifically on Prunus avium and P. cerasus. Multivariate discriminant analysis (method of canonical variates) was applied to find out if morphological variation of samples correlated with mitochondrial COI and host plant information. Mean scores on the first two canonical variables clustered samples fully in accordance with their COI haplotypes and host plants confirming the existence of two morphologically similar winter host -specific subspecies of M. cerasi in Europe. No single morphological character enabled satisfactory discrimination between apterous viviparous females of the two subspecies. A three-character linear discriminant function enabled 92.37% correct identification of apterous viviparous females of M. cerasi cerasi (n=118) and 93.64% of M. cerasi pruniavium (n=110). A key for the morphological identification of the two subspecies is presented and their taxonomic status is discussed.

This study presents the list of aphid species (Family Aphididae, 16 species of 9 genera altogether) collected from Kahramanmaraşand Istanbul Province in 2011, with the comments on their distribution. DNA extraction, PCR amplification and sequencing protocols used. Hyalopterus persikonus, Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae, Dysaphis (Pomaphis) reaumuri and Myzus (Myzus) varians are reported for the first time from the aphid fauna of Kahramanmaraş Province. Comments on the biological characters and distribution of Brachycaudus divaricatae and Hyalopterus species complex are also given in present study.