The ongoing dispersion of the Eucalyptus bronze bug (Thaumastocoris peregrinus) in Spain

Abstract

Aim of stydy: Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Carpinteiro & Dellapé, 2006) is notable for its dispersion potential, and for its damage to a wide range of hosts of the genus Eucalyptus. The intense movement of people and cargo between continents contributes to the success of its geographical distribution on the globe and hinders the adoption of preventive measures. The celerity and precision in the identification of T. peregrinus, as well as its invasion and dispersion routes are fundamental for the implementation of measures to prevent new invasions.Area of Study: Park of Retiro in the community of Madrid, Spain, where T. peregrinus is present.Material and methods: In this paper we analysed this COI mtDNA gene in T. peregrinus, using samples collected in a park in Madrid urban area, to study the possible ways of introduction of this insect in Spain. This goal can be achieved using molecular methods to amplify and sequence the COI mtDNA gene, which is used as a barcode gene.Results: The results confirm that the population found in Madrid belong to T. peregrinus species and that all the specimens are from the same maternal lineage.Research highlights: We present the first molecular information of the population of T. peregrinus present in the country, and suggest and discuss possible routes of introduction of the species in Spain.

One maternal lineage leads the expansion of Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae) in the New and Old Worlds

“…Outside of Australia, only four haplotypes were found: D and G in South Africa 16 , IT in Italy 21 , and A in South America 16 , North America, Europe, and Asia. From our work, haplotype A was the most frequent and widespread, found at 28 sites (116 sequences), in three populations from Australia (48 sequences) 20 , six populations in South America (32 sequences) 16 and one population in Spain (10 sequences) 22 , comprising a total of 206 sequences (Fig. 2).…”

“…Samples from several locations in seven countries, including newly invaded countries in South America (Chile and Paraguay), North America (the USA and Mexico) and the Mediterranean Basin (Portugal, Italy, and Israel) were collected and analyzed. We also combined our mtDNA data with previously available sequences of T. peregrinus 16,[20][21][22][23] (Table 1). Our results demonstrate that haplotype A is predominant in South America, North America, Europe, and Israel, indicating a low genetic diversity of T. peregrinus outside its native region.…”

“…This scenario is more likely than an introduction from South Africa as previously reported 53 . Nonetheless, based on the presence of haplotype A in Portugal and recently in Spain 22 , we also hypothesize dispersion and incursions from many of these countries into Italy because of the short geographical distance, the land border, and the motorway connections between countries (Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy), and intense movement of tourists and goods.…”

“…Number of individuals used/sequenced by population. Mitochondrial DNA sequences from this study were combined with other sequences deposited in Genbank 16,[21][22][23] and some not deposited in Genbank 20 .…”

“…The 116 COI sequences generated in this study were combined with 197 sequences of 16 populations from Australia 16,20 . We also used 32 sequences from South America, 62 from South Africa 16 , 1 from Italy (KF437485) 21 , 10 from Spain (MN401749) 22 , and 5 from Reunion Island (France) (GenBank − KT273623, KT273624, KT273625, KT273626, and KT273627) 23 . The inference and visualization of genetic relationships among intraspecific sequences used to generate a haplotype network were conducted using TCS network 24 within the program PopART 25 .…”