Genetic variation of the rice stink bug Oebalus pugnax F

The rice stink bug, Oebalus pugnax has been a major pest of rice in the United States for over a century now. Recently, two related invasive species, O. ypsilongriseus and O. insularis have colonized the US. Genetic variation of these economically important species is unknown. Ninety two adult stink bugs were collected from Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, and Cuba. After DNA extraction, a region of the mtDNA COI gene was sequenced. From the 68 O. pugnax samples, 14 haplotypes were observed, with one haplotype, G, occurring in 29% of the samples. Many haplotypes were shared among populations, but several were unique to individual populations. Unlike O. pugnax, little genetic variation was observed among the Florida and Cuba O. ypsilongriseus and O. insularis. The Florida and Cuba O. ypsilongriseus were genetically distinct from a Brazilian sample sequence from GenBank. This research provides evidence that Cuba could be the source of these two invasive species to Florida. This study also revealed high levels of genetic diversity in the native species O. pugnax.