Foi analisado um fragmento de 808 pares de base do gene mitocondrial citocromo oxidase I (COI) para 15 espécies de Anastrepha: 12 pertencentes ao grupo fraterculus, uma espécie sem grupo definido e duas como grupo externo. As relações filogenéticas entre os táxons incluídos foram inferidas pelos métodos de "neighbor-joining" e máxima parcimônia. A distância genética média (Jukes-Cantor) entre as espécies foi 0,033 ± 0,006, tendo o nível de divergência das seqüências variado de 0,0 a 0,083. Os resultados do estudo com o COI indicaram a inclusão de A. acris Stone, espécie sem grupo morfologicamente definido, no grupo fraterculus. A inclusão de A. barbiellinii Lima no grupo fraterculus e a monifilia do referido grupo são também discutidas. Além disso, a presença de múltiplos conjuntos gênicos na espécie nominal A. fraterculus (Wiedemann) e a não-monofilia de A.fraterculus são corroboradas pelos dados obtidos no presente estudo. As espécies A. amita Zucchi, A. turpiniae Stone e A. zenildae Zucchi foram analisadas geneticamente pela primeira vez.

Variation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was assessed for >100 populations of Mediterranean fruit flies Ceratitis capitata (Weidemann), collected from the New and Old World using 3 restriction enzymes, Eco RV, Mnl I, and Xba I. Previously reported variation for some populations was based on Southern blot analysis of nucleic acid extractions digested with Eco RV and Xba I. Mnl I variation for these populations and complete restriction enzyme profiles for many new populations were obtained with a polymerase chain reaction amplification-based method that revealed polymorphism in portions of the mitochondrial genes for NADH dehydrogenase subunits 4 and 5. Highest levels of mtDNA diversity were found in samples from sub-Saharan Africa. Lower levels of mtDNA polymorphism were found in the countries of the Mediterranean region, where the Mediterranean fruit fly has been established for >150 yr. Examination of South and Central American populations revealed a disjunct pattern of mtDNA haplotypes with relatively low intrapopulational variation, reflecting multiple introductions into the New World. Our approach provides improved resolution of possible source countries for historical infestations in the United States.

An integrative multidisciplinary approach was used to delimit boundaries among cryptic species within the Anastrepha fraterculus complex in Brazil. Se

We documented fruit fly-host associations and infestation rates over 5 yr in the state of Bahia, Brazil, by systematically collecting native and intr