Serrana, M.M., Ishitani, N., Carvajal, T.M., Almarinez, B.J., Barrion, A.T., Amalin, D., & Watanabe, K. 2019 Unraveling the genetic structure of the coconut scale insect pest (Aspidiotus rigidus Reyne) outbreak populations in the Philippines. Insects 10(11): doi.org/10.1101/726919.
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Notes: Very low or no genetic differentiation was observed within and amongst the populations per geographic region indicating two unrelated outbreak events of the pest originating from two genetically uniform populations isolated in each respective region. Historical data supports the resurgence of an established Aspidiotus rigidus population in the south which could have been driven by sudden climatic changes or human-induced habitat habitat imbalance. Given no historical information, we disregard the possible resurgence from the northern population and infer that the outbreak could have resulted from a recent introduction of a non-native A. rigidus in the region. Our study provides valuable information on the genetic differentiation of the two A. rigidus groups that would be useful for developing and implementing biological control strategies against this pest in the Philippines.
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