Population structure and cryptic genetic variation in the mango fruit fly, Ceratitis cosyra (Diptera, Tephritidae)

Abstract. The fruit fly Ceratitis cosyra is an important agricultural pest negatively affecting the mango crop production throughout Africa and also feeding on a variety of other wild and cultivated hosts. The occurrence of deeply divergent haplotypes, as well as extensive morphological variability, previously suggested possible cryptic speciation within Ceratitis cosyra. Here we provide the first large-scale characterisation of the population structure of Ceratitis cosyra with the main objective of verifying cryptic genetic variation. A total of 348 specimens from 13 populations were genotyped at 16 polymorphic microsatellite loci. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) deviations were observed in 40.4% of locus-population combinations and suggested the occurrence of genetic substructuring within populations. Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components (DAPC) showed genetic divergence between the vast majority of vouchers from Burundi and Tanzania (plus a few outliers from other African countries) and all other specimens sampled. Individual Bayesian assignments confirmed the existence of two main genotypic groups also occurring in sympatry. These data provided further support to the hypothesis that Ceratitis cosyra might include cryptic species. However, additional integrative taxonomy, possibly combining morphological, ecological and physiological approaches, is required to provide the necessary experimental support to this model.