Population Genetic Structure of Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Hemiptera: Miridae) in the Cotton-Growing Regions of the United States

The cotton fleahopper, Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an economically important insect pest of cotton in the United States. However, reports of cotton fi eahopper infestation and its management in cotton flelds are restricted primarily to Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The objective of this study was to understand the genetic diversity of cotton fieahopper populations infesting cotton in the cotton-growing areas of the United States. Ampli_ed fragment length polymorphism markers were used to detect genetic diversity and to characterize geographic genotypes across the distribution of the cotton fleahopper in the United States. Weused 172 individuals and 559 amplifled fragment length polymorphism loci in this study and found signi_cant, but low, level of genetic differentiation among geographic populations (F-ST = 0.02; P < 0.0001). Molecular fingerprints of cotton fleahopper populations were partitioned into three broad regional genetic populations with a western, central, and eastern distribution. The western (Arizona) and eastern (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina) populations are genetically distinct, whereas the central (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama) population represents an admixed population, which include both western and eastern populations. These results suggest considerable gene fiow among the populations within regions but restricted gene flow among populations from eastern and western region.