Microsatellite-based analysis of the genetic structure and diversity of Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) from tea plants in China

Abstract Although Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Quaintance) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a well known insect pest of tea plants, little information is available about its genetic structure and diversity. The present study used microsatellite markers to assess the genetic structure and diversity of this species on tea plants in China. For this purpose, 193 individuals from ten natural populations were analyzed using ten microsatellite markers. Our results indicated that the average number of alleles (A) across populations was 35.6, and all observed heterozygosities (H O ) were greater than 0.7, indicating an excess of heterozygosity and a relatively high level of genetic diversity among populations, and the number of private alleles per population ranged from 3 to 26. Pairwise F ST analysis suggested that the number of genetic differentiation events was moderate (0.05  ST