External morphology and molecular identification of two tea Geometrid moth from southern China
Author of the article:JIANG Nan1 LIU Shu-Xian1, 2 XUE Da-Yong1 TANG Mei-Jun3 XIAO Qiang3** HAN Hong-Xiang1
Author's Workplace：1. Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101,China; 2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; 3. Tea Research Institute of Chinese Academy of AgriculturalSciences, Hangzhou 310008, China
Key Words：Ectropis grisescens, Ectropis obliqua, morphological characteristics, mitochondrial COⅠ gene, taxonomy
Abstract： [Objectives] Ectropis grisescens Warren, 1894 and Ectropis obliqua (Prout, 1915), two serious pests of tea in south-easternChina, are morphologically similar and cannot easily be distinguished, which makes it difficult to conduct research on these pests. To accurately identify E. grisescens and E. obliqua, we examined and compared morphological characters and the mitochondrial CO Ⅰ gene sequences of these two species. [Methods] Morphological characters of adults, eggs, larvae and pupae of each species were observed, illustrated, measured and compared. 39 samples of the mitochondrial COⅠ gene of E. grisescens and E. obliqua were amplified and sequenced, and the intraspecific and interspecific divergences of the two species were calculated. NJ and ML trees were built based on the Kimura-2-parameter model. [Results] The results show that there are obvious morphological differences between E. grisescens and E. obliqua and there is an obvious “barcoding gap” in the intraspecific and interspecific divergences of these species that allows them to be distinguished by NJ and ML trees. [Conclusion] The results of morphological identification were consistent with molecular methods based on COⅠ gene variation. The results should be useful for preventing crop damage by these two pests and related research.