Genetic diversity and population genetic structure from different host populations of <em>Spodoptera litura</em> based on microsatellite markers

Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an agricultural pest with a wide distribution range and many host plants, which can cause serious economic losses. In this study, 157 samples were collected from 8 hosts (tobacco, soybean, taro, peanut, chili, sweet potatoes, corn, and sorrel) in Fuli Town, Fuchuan County, Hezhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Seven microsatellite loci were used to analyze the genetic diversity, genetic structure, and genetic differentiation of these populations. The results showed that the number of alleles (Na) of 8 populations ranged from 2.43 to 6.14, the average of polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.4574, the mean of observed heterozygosity (HO) and expected heterozygosity (HE) were 0.4926 and 0.5693, respectively. The genetic diversity of different host populations was high. Based on the Bayesian clustering and NJ phylogenetic tree of genetic structure, it was shown that there were certain genetic structures among differe..., , # Genetic diversity and population genetic structure from different host populations of *Spodoptera litura* based on microsatellite markers Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.6djh9w1f2](10.5061/dryad.6djh9w1f2) ## Description of the data and file structure These data are microsatellite results from 157 individuals of eight host populations of *Spodoptera litura*. The samples of different hosts were collected from Fuli Town, Fuchuan County, Hezhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (111°23´E, 24°53´N), and a total of 157 larvae of 8-24 were taken from each host (Table 1), which were tobacco (YC), soybean (DD), taro (XY), peanut (HS), chili (LJ), sweet potato (XY), corn (YM), and sorrel (SM) populations. Genomic DNA was extracted from the head of each larva using Ezup Column Animal Genomic DNA Purification Kit (Shanghai, China) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 157 samples were amplified by PCR using seven pairs of microsatellite primers (CWM−1, CWM−4, CWM−5, CWM−6, CWM−7, CWM...,