Species boundary and phylogeographical pattern provide new insights into the management efforts of Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Plataspidae), a bean bug invading North America

Abstract

BACKGROUND Correct identification together with information on distribution range, geographical origin and evolutionary history are the necessary basis for the management and control of invasive species. The bean bug Megacopta cribraria is a crucial agricultural pest of soybean. Recently, M. cribraria has invaded the United States and spread rapidly, causing severe reductions in soybean yields. However, the species boundary and phylogeographical pattern of this invasive bean bug are still unclear. RESULTS The results of different species delimitation methods (Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery, Assemble Species by Automatic Partitioning, Bayesian Poisson Tree Processes and Bayesian Phylogenetics and Phylogeography) strongly demonstrated that M. cribraria and Megacopta punctatissima represent the same species. M. punctatissima should not be considered a distinct species but rather a variety of M. cribraria. Phylogenetic analyses revealed three well‐supported clades (Southeast Asia [SEA], East Asia continent [EAC] and Japan [JA]) with distinct geographical structures in the M. cribraria–M. punctatissima complex. The SEA clade was at the base of the phylogenetic tree, and the sister relationship between the EAC clade and JA clade was strongly supported. The split between the EAC clade and JA clade occurred at approximately 0.71 Ma, corresponding to the submergence period of the East China Sea land bridge. CONCLUSION This study clarified the species boundary between M. cribraria and its closely related species and revealed the phylogeographical pattern and evolutionary history of M. cribraria. The species delimitation and phylogeography results achieved in this study could provide new insights into the monitoring and management of this agricultural pest. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Mitogenomes Provide Insights into the Species Boundaries and Phylogenetic Relationships among Three Dolycoris Sloe Bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) from China

“…Furthermore, due to rare recombination, maternal inheritance, and a relatively high evolutionary rate, mitochondrial genomes are perceived as effective markers for resolving phylogenetic relationships in insects. The genome of this organelle has been widely used for both deeply divergent lineages and recently radiated groups [15,16].…”

Limits of mitochondrial genes in delimiting species within a Carbula species complex (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

“…This is especially true in cases involving the incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) of nuclear genes (Firneno et al, 2020). A large number of studies have shown that the use of mitogenome data can effectively identify specimens, discover cryptic species where few morphological differences can be observed (Liu et al, 2020; Zheng et al, 2020), and delimit species boundaries in species‐complexes with morphological variants that have puzzled taxonomists for many years (Amarasinghe et al, 2023; Zhu et al, 2022).…”

The Characterization and Phylogenetic Implications of the Mitochondrial Genomes of Antheminia varicornis and Carpocoris purpureipennis (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

“…In addition, comparing mitochondrial gene structure and genetic composition between species can provide crucial insights into the evolution of related species [3,12,13]. Benefiting from advances in high-throughput sequencing technology, an increasing number of mitogenomes have been sequenced among the Hemiptera [14][15][16][17] and have been widely used for mitochondrial structure comparison, phylogenetic analysis at different taxonomic levels, species delimitation, population genetic structure, and biogeographic studies [7,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29].…”