Genetic variation in field and laboratory populations of the spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris

Abstract

The predatory spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris (Say) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), is an economically important and highly valued biological control agent. There is substantial information on the biology, ecology, behavior, and rearing of this stink bug. However, virtually nothing is known of its genetic variation, in natural or domesticated populations. To address this lacuna, we used amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) to assess the genetic variability of field and laboratory populations. Four AFLP universal primer combinations yielded a total of 209 usable loci. The AFLP results showed greater genetic variability between populations from Missouri and Mississippi (both USA), and relatively low variability within Missouri populations. We infer little genetic isolation among Missouri field populations and within laboratory populations but a significant genetic isolation between Missouri and Mississippi populations.

Genetic Diversity in Apple Fruit Moth Indicate Different Clusters in the Two Most Important Apple Growing Regions of Norway

“…As an example, AFLP analysis was used to study genetic structure of Spodoptera frugiperda populations associated with maize and cotton crops in Brazil [22]. In USA, the technique was applied to detect; high gene flow in Ostrinia nubilalis collected from maize fields [23], significant genetic differentiation of Podisus maculiventris populations, which is an economical important biological control agent [24] and high genetic variation among regions of the important pest Pseudatomoscelis seriatus from cotton fields [25]. In Spain, backcross hybrid between Drosophila buzzatii and Drosophila koepferae species was detected using AFLP [26].…”

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Used to Investigate Genetic Variability of the Stable Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Across North America

“…AFLP-PCR was performed using a protocol modiÞed from Vos et al (1995), commonly used in our laboratory (Alamalakala et al 2009, Kneeland et al 2012a.…”

Genetic Variability of Spined Soldier Bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Sampled from Distinct Field Sites and Laboratory Colonies in the United States

“…Recently, AFLP was used to assess the genetic variation of spined soldier bug taken from one laboratory colony and from 4 field locations; 2 field locations were near the collection site of the founding individuals used to establish the laboratory colony and 2 were more distant (Kneeland et al 2012). In this study, samples from 7 field locations and 3 laboratory colonies (from which were made 7 sample collections) were used to test 3 hypotheses.…”

“…Each adult specimen was washed 3 times in 1.5 ml 95% ethanol. Each wash lasted 24 h and afterward the samples were preserved in 95% ethanol at 4 °C (Kneeland et al 2012). …”

“…Species confirmation was performed for field collected specimens (Slater & Baranowski 1978;McPherson 1982). All colonies were maintained in walk-in growth chambers held at 26 °C with 70% relative humidity (Coudron et al 2002), and continuously fed live and coddled 4th instar Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) larvae and provided water via a dental wick (Kneeland et al 2012).…”