Abstract
Global trade facilitates the inadvertent movement of insect pests and subsequent establishment of populations outside their native ranges. Despite phytosanitary measures, nonnative insects arrive at United States (U.S.) ports of entry as larvae in solid wood packaging material (SWPM). Identification of wood-boring larval insects is important for pest risk analysis and management, but is difficult beyond family level due to highly conserved morphology. Therefore, we integrated DNA barcoding and rearing of larvae to identify wood-boring insects in SWPM. From 2012 to 2015, we obtained larvae of 338 longhorned beetles (Cerambycidae) and 38 metallic wood boring beetles (Buprestidae) intercepted in SWPM associated with imported products at six U.S. ports. We identified 265 specimens to species or genus using DNA barcodes. Ninety-three larvae were reared to adults and identified morphologically. No conflict was found between the two approaches, which together identified 275 cerambycids (23 genera) and 16 buprestids (4 genera). Our integrated approach confirmed novel DNA barcodes for seven species (10 specimens) of woodborers not in public databases. This study demonstrates the utility of DNA barcoding as a tool for regulatory agencies. We provide important documentation of potential beetle pests that may cross country borders through the SWPM pathway.
Highlights
Global trade has created a pathway by which nonnative species may cross once impervious natural borders such as oceans and mountains[1]
From April 2012 to March 2015, we received 387 immature insects found by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists in solid wood packaging material (SWPM) from six ports (Fig. 1)
No insertions/deletions or premature stop codons were found in the sequences, suggesting no amplification of nuclear mitochondrial DNA (NUMT)
Summary
Global trade has created a pathway by which nonnative species may cross once impervious natural borders such as oceans and mountains[1]. Rapid identification of unknown specimens may be achieved through DNA barcoding and query of public sequence databases[17] This approach has been adopted for use in regulatory fields such as conservation biology, consumer protection, and border biosecurity, especially when morphological identification of target taxa is difficult and/or impossible (e.g.,18–21). We sought to improve the capacity to identify nonnative wood-boring beetle larvae intercepted in SWPM by using a combination of DNA barcoding and rearing larvae to the adult stage. This integrated approach, which to our knowledge has not been used before, allows for cross validation of identification results. Application of the data may facilitate identification of risk factors and at-risk pathways, which will help plant protection agencies focus responses to threats posed by the movement of infested SWPM
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