A simple and reliable method for discriminating between Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa assulta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) |
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| Authors: | Jia Chen Yu‐Chun Wu Xin Chen Ya‐Jie Ji De‐Xing Zhang |
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| Affiliation: | 1. State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents;2. Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;3. Guangdong Entomological Institute, Guangzhou;4. Center for Computational and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing |
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| Abstract: | Abstract The cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera and the oriental tobacco budworm H. assulta are sibling species, both being important agricultural pests. Morphologically, the two insects are almost indistinguishable at the egg, larval and pupal stages. One of the big challenges in the study of these insects, in particular in integrated pest management, is a timely and dependable identification of these insects at their early stages of development. Here, we report a H. armigera‐specific nuclear DNA marker, and demonstrate that it can be employed to reliably discriminate between H. armigera and H. assulta by simple polymerase chain reaction amplification experiment. |
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| Keywords: | Helicoverpa punctigera lepidopteran nuclear DNA marker pest management PCR species identification |
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