Economically important cacao (Theobroma cacao Linnaeus 1753) plantations in South East Asia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) are significantly affected by the cocoa pod borer (CPB) moth. Species identity of the pest is attributed to Conopomorpha cramerella (Snellen 1904), a gracillariid moth endemic to Australasian and Oriental tropic regions that has evolved a host preference for introduced cacao. Suspected presence of cryptic CPB biotypes is largely unsupported by earlier genetic work but remains a concern to organisations developing species-specific lure and/or control tools for managing this pest. We report the use of DNA barcoding to investigate population and species genetic diversity of CPB infecting cacao plantations in PNG at the eastern periphery of the pest's distribution. DNA barcodes from 94.4% of 179 moths from three disjunct PNG provinces (East Sepik, Bougainville and East New Britain) matched to reported C. cramerella sequence accessions. Genetic diversity among C. cramerella in PNG was limited to four closely related haplotypes, two of which were common in PNG and have previously been reported in the Malay Archipelago at different frequencies. We found evidence of significant population genetic structure between mainland and eastern offshore PNG provinces marked by a reduction of genetic diversity at the offshore provinces. We suggest C. cramerella populations in these offshore island provinces likely arose recently from a genetically depauperate cohort of founders from western sources. Ten moths were genetically unmatched to C. cramerella. Of these, six incidentally captured and degraded adults had novel unmatched DNA barcodes. Four larvae infesting cacao pods were genetically matched to Thaumatotibia zophophanes (Turner 1946) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and an undefined Conopomorpha species distantly related to C. cramerella. The extent to which these two additional moth species affect the cacao industry in PNG (and potentially elsewhere) remains unknown. However, their low representation here (<2.3% of samples) indicates they may be of lesser prominence than the widespread C. cramerella. Nevertheless, organisations designing and/or implementing CPB controls tailored specifically for C. cramerella will need to ensure empirical evidence of control efficiency is monitored with respect to species identity of the captured pests.

中文翻译：

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Conopomorpha cramerella (Snellen, 1904) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) 和其他影响巴布亚新几内亚可可的飞蛾的 DNA 条形码识别

东南亚和巴布亚新几内亚 (PNG) 具有重要经济意义的可可 ( Theobroma cacao Linnaeus 1753) 种植园受到可可豆螟 (CPB) 蛾的严重影响。该害虫的物种特征归因于Conopomorpha cramerella(Snellen 1904)，一种澳大利亚和东方热带地区特有的细螟蛾，它进化出对引进的可可的寄主偏好。早期遗传工作在很大程度上不支持隐性 CPB 生物型的怀疑存在，但仍然是开发物种特异性诱饵和/或控制工具以管理这种害虫的组织的关注点。我们报告了使用 DNA 条形码来调查 CPB 感染可可种植园在害虫分布东部外围的 PNG 可可种植园的种群和物种遗传多样性。来自三个分离的 PNG 省（东塞皮克、布干维尔和东新不列颠）的 179 只飞蛾中有 94.4% 的 DNA 条形码与报告的C. cramerella序列加入相匹配。C. cramerella 的遗传多样性在 PNG 中仅限于四个密切相关的单倍型，其中两个在 PNG 中很常见，并且以前在马来群岛中以不同的频率报道过。我们发现了 PNG 大陆和东部近海省份之间显着种群遗传结构的证据，其特征是近海省份的遗传多样性减少。我们认为，这些近海岛屿省份的C. cramerella种群可能是最近从西方来源的一群基因贫乏的创始人中产生的。十种飞蛾在基因上与C. cramerella不匹配。其中，六个偶然捕获和降解的成虫具有新的无与伦比的 DNA 条形码。感染可可豆荚的四只幼虫与Thaumatotibia zophophanes基因匹配(Turner 1946) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) 和一个未定义的Conopomorpha物种，与C. cramerella 有远亲关系。这两种额外的蛾类对巴布亚新几内亚（以及其他地方）的可可产业的影响程度仍然未知。然而，它们在这里的低代表性（<2.3% 的样本）表明它们可能不如广泛存在的C. cramerella突出。尽管如此，设计和/或实施专门为C. cramerella量身定制的 CPB 控制措施的组织将需要确保在捕获害虫的物种特性方面监控控制效率的经验证据。