DNA barcoding identifies invasive pests, appears ready for agricultural application

Pest and invasive species in agricultural crops and shipped goods pose enormous economic and biosecurity threats. Rapidly and reliably identifying pests and invasives in all life stages is likely to be one of the most economically important applications of DNA barcoding. In March 2006 Ann Entomol Soc Am 99: 204 Scheffer, Lewis, and Joshi from the USDA and the Philippine Department of Agriculture apply DNA barcoding to invasive leafminer flies in the Philippines. They analyzed 258 specimens from the Philippines and compared these to a database of 307 sequences previously collected from worldwide populations. Bootstrap values for all species were 100%. In addition, a total of 7 distinct clusters

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with 98-100% bootstrap support were found in 3 “morphospecies”, suggesting discovery of new species, similar to findings of unrecognized biodiversity in all DNA barcode surveys to date. They conclude “DNA barcoding of economically and medically important species offers a powerful means of rapid identification”. 

With DNA barcoding, all can identify this Liriomyza sativae pupae