Data from: Population structure of a global agricultural invasive pest, Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Bactrocera dorsalis, the Oriental fruit fly, is one of the world’s most destructive agricultural insect pests and a major impediment to international fresh commodity trade. The genetic structuring of the species across its entire geographic range has never been undertaken, because under a former taxonomy B. dorsalis was divided into four distinct taxonomic entities, each with their own, largely non-overlapping, distributions. Based on the extensive sampling of six a priori groups from 63 locations, genetic and geometric morphometric datasets were generated to detect macrogeographic population structure, and to determine prior and current invasion pathways of this species. Weak population structure and high genetic diversity were detected among Asian populations. Invasive populations in Africa and Hawaii are inferred to be the result of separate, single invasions from South Asia; while South Asia is also the likely source of other Asian populations. The current northward invasion of B. dorsalis into central China is the result of multiple, repeated dispersal events, most likely related to fruit trade. Results are discussed in the context of global quarantine, trade and management of this pest. The recent expansion of the fly into temperate China, with very few associated genetic changes, clearly demonstrates the threat posed by this pest to ecologically similar areas in Europe and North America.

橘小实蝇（Bactrocera dorsalis），又名东方果实蝇，是全球最具破坏性的农业害虫之一，亦是阻碍国际新鲜商品贸易的主要障碍。此前学界从未针对该物种在其完整地理分布范围内开展遗传结构研究，原因在于旧分类体系下，B. dorsalis曾被划分为四个独立的分类单元，各单元的分布范围基本互不重叠。本研究对来自63个采样点的6个先验类群开展大规模采样，生成遗传数据集与几何形态测量数据集，用以检测宏观地理种群结构，并明确该物种既往与当前的入侵路径。研究发现，亚洲种群间仅存在较弱的种群结构，且具有较高的遗传多样性。非洲与夏威夷的入侵种群被推断源自南亚的两次独立单次入侵事件；而南亚也大概率是其他亚洲种群的起源地。当前该物种向北扩散至中国中部的入侵过程，是多次重复的扩散事件共同作用的结果，该过程大概率与果品贸易相关。本研究结果结合全球检疫、贸易与该害虫的治理背景展开讨论。该实蝇近期向中国温带地区的扩张仅伴随极少量的遗传变异，这充分证明了该害虫对欧洲与北美等生态相似区域所构成的威胁。