Genetic analysis in two species of Loxa Amyot & Serville 1843 (Pentatomidae) collected in Iguaçu National Park (Foz Do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil)

Abstract

The Iguacu National Park is the largest remnant of the Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil, providing habitats for a wide variety of species, including bedbugs of suborder Heteroptera. These insects have an great capacity for adapting and spreading over widely different habitats, resulting in high species diversity. However, little is known about the genetic structure of the group. In this paper, we analyzed the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) mitochondrial gene of two species, Loxa viridis (Palisot de Beauvois 1805) and Loxa virescens Amyot & Serville 1843, collected in Iguacu National Park. The 32 COI sequences analyzed in this study were grouped into six haplotypes, that were exclusive to each collection site. The analysis of molecular variance showed tree polymorphisms for each species and variations among populations was 100%. Maximum Likehood test analysis showed two large groups, with L. viridis and L. virescens from the same collection points tend to be closer together. The results obtained contributed to the identification of the species and populations of each collection site are suffering local selection pressure in the Iguacu National Park. The conservation actions carried out by the Iguacu National Park are being important for the maintenance of biodiversity.