Genetic Characterization of Populations of Zeugodacus Cucurbitae (Coquillet, 1899), a Watermelon Pest

<i>Zeugodacus cucurbitae</i> or melon fly formerly called <i>Bactrocera cucurbitae</i> is an agricultural pest of Asian origin. Well known as a pest of fleshy fruits and vegetables damaging 81 host plants, the melon fly has been the subject of several studies due to its introduction and dissemination worldwide. Up to now, no study on the global structuring of <i>Zeugodacus cucurbitae</i> has been done. Therefore, knowledge of its genetic structuring would allow better management of the insect. It is in this context that the present study on the genetic characterization of populations of <i>Z. cucurbitae</i> watermelon pest insect fits. Our data was collected from the Genbank database. Phylogeographic analyses were made using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) DNA as a genetic marker. After analysis, the study demonstrated two distinct groups: a group composed of the population of Reunion and another group composed of populations from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Hawaii. This is the result of a genetic isolation demonstrated by the Mantel Test for which the significant p-value confirms the correlation between genetic distances and geographical distances. However, there is a genetic differentiation between individuals in the Reunion population. For any fight against this insect, it would be interesting to take into account the existence of these two genetic groups.