RESUMEN
Prays oleae is the second most important pest in Mediterranean olive groves, causing substantial damage on olive production. We used mitochondrial [cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (nad5)] and nuclear [ribosomal protein S5 (RpS5)] amplicons to assess the population variability in five main olive producing regions from Tunisia, to support or dismiss the existence of two non-monophyletic groups within the species, as found within Portugal. Our phylogenetic analysis with cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) indeed displayed two distinct and well-supported clades of P. oleae, which were corroborated by the haplotype network reconstructed with both mitochondrial and nuclear amplicons. We were also able to dismiss the hypothesis that one of the clades would not develop on olive fruits. No correlation was observed between clades differentiation and geographic distribution. The existence of cryptic species can impact on the management of agroecosystems and on the perception of how these moths responds to environmental changes.
RESUMEN
Prays oleae is one of the most important olive tree pests and a species of interest in evolutionary studies, as it belongs to one of the oldest extant superfamilies of Ditrysian Lepidoptera. We determined its mitogenome sequence, and found it has common features for Lepidoptera, e.g. an >80% A + T content, an apparent CGA start codon for COX1 and an ATAGA(T)n motif in the control region, which also contains several copies of a 163-164 bp repeat. Importantly, the mitogenome displays the Met-Ile-Gln tRNA gene order typical of Ditrysia, consistent with the hypothesis that this is a synapomorphy of that clade.
