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Abstract Food production strategies and patterns are being altered in response to climate change. Enhancing the adaptation of important food crops to novel climate regimes will be critical to maintaining world food supplies. Climate change is altering the suitability of production areas for crops such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) making future productivity, resilience, and sustainability of this crop dependent on breeding for climate adaptation, including through the introgression of novel traits from its wild relatives. To better understand the future production climate envelopes of potatoes, and the potential of its wild relatives to contribute to adaptation to these environments, we estimated the climate of potato in four future climate scenarios and overlapped the current climate of 72 wild relative species and potato with these future climates. We discovered a shift of up to 12.5% by potato from current to novel climate by 2070 and varying magnitudes of overlap by different wild relatives with potato, primarily driven by the extent of endemism. To address the threat of novel climate on potato production and with the wealth of data available for the agrobiodiversity in potato wild relatives, we systematically developed a prioritization value inspired by the logic of the breeder's equation for locating potentially beneficial species possessing local adaptability, climatic plasticity, and interspecific crossability. In doing so, 26 unique species by discrete climate combinations are found, highlighting the presence of unique species to use in adapting potato to changing local climates. Further, the 20 highest prioritized values belong to diploid species, enforcing the drive to shift into diploid breeding by the potato research community, where introgression of the local climate adaptability traits may be more streamlined.

Although there is scientific consensus on most of the major biogeographic regions in the world, the demarcation of the area connecting Southeast Asia with Australia and Oceania remains debated. Two candidate boundaries potentially explain faunistic diversity patterns in the regions: Lydekker’s and Wallace’s lines. The islands in between both ‘lines’ are jointly termed Wallacea, with Sulawesi as the largest landmass. We surveyed Dacini fruit flies (Tephritidae: Dacinae) in Sulawesi between 2016 and 2019 using traps baited with male lures, resulting in 4,517 collected flies. We identified all specimens to species level, which adds 15 new species records to the island, bringing the total number of Dacini species in Sulawesi to 83. The biogeographic affinity of species in the updated checklist reveals a strong connection with former ‘Sunda’ (41% of species); validating Lydekker’s line, but also a high level of endemism (47% of species), confirming the uniqueness of Wallacea as a biogeographic region. We further describe a new species, Bactrocera (Bactrocera) niogreta Doorenweerd, sp. nov. and discuss the taxonomy of several interesting species.

Abstract Understanding the factors that determine the realized and potential distribution of a species requires knowledge of abiotic, physiological, limitations as well as ecological interactions. Fungi of the order Laboulbeniales specialize on arthropods and are typically thought to be highly specialized on a single species or closely related group of species. Because infections are almost exclusively transmitted through direct contact between the hosts, the host ecology, to a large extent, determines the distribution and occurrence of the fungus. We examined ~20,000 fruit flies (Diptera: Dacinae) collected in Malaysia, Sulawesi, Australia, and the Solomon Islands between 2017 and 2019 for fungal infections and found 197 infected flies across eight different Bactrocera species. Morphology and 1,363 bps of small subunit (18S) DNA sequences both support that the infections are from a single polyphagous fungal species Stigmatomyces dacinus—a known ectoparasite of these fruit flies. This leads to the question: why is S. dacinus rare, when its hosts are widespread and abundant? In addition, the hosts are all Bactrocera, a genus with ~480 species, but 37 Bactrocera species found sympatric with the hosts were never infected. Host‐selection does not appear to be phylogenetically correlated. These results suggest a hidden complexity in how different, but closely related, host species vary in their susceptibility, which somehow limits the abundance and dispersal capability of the fungus.

Understanding the factors driving ecological and evolutionary interactions of economically important plant species is important for agricultural sustainability. The geography of crop wild relatives, including wild potatoes (Solanum section Petota), have received attention; however, such information has not been analysed in combination with phylogenetic histories, genomic composition and reproductive systems to identify potential species for use in breeding for abiotic stress tolerance. We used a combination of ordinary least-squares (OLS) and phylogenetic generalized least-squares (PGLM) analyses to identify the discrete climate classes that make up the climate niche that wild potato species inhabit in the context of breeding system and ploidy. Self-incompatible diploid or self-compatible polyploid species significantly increase the number of discrete climate classes within a climate niche inhabited. This result was sustained when correcting for phylogenetic non-independence in the linear model. Our results support the idea that specific breeding system and ploidy combinations increase niche breadth through the decoupling of geographical range and niche diversity, and therefore, these species may be of particular interest for crop adaptation to a changing climate.

We engaged in six years of snap-shot surveys for fruit flies in rural environments and ten protected forest areas of Bangladesh, using traps baited with male lures (cue-lure, methyl eugenol, zingerone). Our work has increased the recorded number of species of Tephritidae in the country from seven to 37. We summarize these surveys and report eight new country occurrence records, and a new species (Zeugodacus madhupuri Leblanc & Doorenweerd, sp. nov.) is described. The highlight among the new records is the discovery, and significant westward range extension, of Bactrocera carambolae Drew & Hancock, a major fruit pest detected in the Chattogram and Sylhet Divisions. We rectify the previously published erroneous record of Bactrocera bogorensis (Hardy), which was based on a misidentification of Zeugodacus diaphorus (Hendel). We also report the occurrence in Bangladesh of nine other Tephritidae, the rearing of three primary fruit fly parasitoids from Zeugodacus, and records of non-target attraction to fruit fly lures.

Recent snap-shot surveys for fruit flies in Vietnam in 2015 and 2017 using traps baited with the male Dacinae fruit fly lures methyl eugenol, cue-lure and zingerone, collected 56 species, including 11 new country records and another 11 undescribed species, four of which are described in this paper. This increases the number of described species known to occur in Vietnam from 78 to 93. Species accumulation curves, based on the Chao 2 mean estimate, suggest that we collected 60–85 % of the local fauna at the sites sampled, and that species diversity decreases with increasing latitude. The four new species are named: Bactrocera (Tetradacus) ernesti Leblanc & Doorenweerd sp. n., B. (Asiadacus) connecta Leblanc & Doorenweerd sp. n., B. (Parazeugodacus) clarifemur Leblanc & Doorenweerd sp. n., and B. (Bactrocera) adamantea Leblanc & Doorenweerd sp. n. In addition to morphological data COI DNA sequence data of both the COI-5P and COI-3P mitochondrial DNA gene regions is provided. Three of the four newly described species are morphologically and genetically easily distinguished from all other members of Dacini. Bactrocera clarifemur sp. n. is superficially similar to B. pendleburyi (Perkins) based on morphology, but there are several apomorphic characters to distinguish the two. Both COI and a segment of the nuclear gene Elongation Factor 1 alpha separate the two species as well.

A fruit fly survey in the Sinharaja and Knuckles National Parks in Sri Lanka (2016), using traps baited with the male lures methyl eugenol, cue-lure, and zingerone, yielded 21 species of Dacini fruit flies. Of these, three species, viz. Bactrocera amarambalensis Drew, B. dongnaiae Drew & Romig, and B. rubigina (Wang & Zhao), are new country occurrence records, and Dacus (Mellesis) ancoralis Leblanc & Doorenweerd, sp. n. is described as a new species. The Sri Lankan Dacini fruit fly fauna is now comprised of 39 species.

The correct application of the scientific names of species is neither easy nor trivial. Mistakes can lead to the wrong interpretation of research results or, when pest species are involved, inappropriate regulations and limits on trade, and possibly quarantine failures that permit the invasion of new pest species. Names are particularly challenging to manage when groups of organisms encompass a large number of species, when different workers employ different philosophical views, or when species are in a state of taxonomic flux. The fruit fly tribe Dacini is a species-rich taxon within Tephritidae and contains around a fifth of all known species in the family. About 10% of the 932 currently recognized species are pests of commercial fruits and vegetables, precipitating quarantines and trade embargos. Authoritative species lists consist largely of scattered regional treatments and outdated online resources. The checklist presented here is the first global overview of valid species names for the Dacini in almost two decades, and includes new lure records. By publishing this list both in paper and digitally, we aim to provide a resource for those studying fruit flies as well as researchers studying components of their impact on agriculture. The list is largely a consolidation of previous works, but following the results from recent phylogenetic work, we transfer one subgenus and eight species to different genera: members of the Bactrocera subgenus Javadacus Hardy, considered to belong to the Zeugodacus group of subgenera, are transferred to genus Zeugodacus; Bactrocera pseudocucurbitae White, 1999, stat. rev., is transferred back to Bactrocera from Zeugodacus; Zeugodacus arisanicus Shiraki, 1933, stat. rev., is transferred back to Zeugodacus from Bactrocera; and Z. brevipunctatus (David & Hancock, 2017), comb. n.; Z. javanensis (Perkins, 1938), comb. n.; Z. montanus (Hardy, 1983), comb. n.; Z. papuaensis (Malloch, 1939), comb. n.; Z. scutellarius (Bezzi, 1916), comb. n.; Z. semisurstyli (Drew & Romig, 2013), comb. n.; and Z. trilineatus (Hardy, 1955), comb. n. are transferred from Bactrocera to Zeugodacus.

As part of ongoing surveys for native bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) across the Hawaiian Islands, we undertook targeted sampling at Pu’u Wa’awa’a Experimental Forest Unit, North Kona, on the northwestern part of Hawai‘i Island during February to April of 2018 and 2019. This is one of the few areas containing remaining native dry forest on the leeward, dry side of the island. Our sampling revealed the presence of seven species of bark beetles not previously recorded from Pu’u Wa’awa’a. These included two native and endemic Hawaiian species belonging to the genus Xyleborus Eichhoff (tribe Xyleborini). The other five species are the exotic Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari, 1867), or the coffee berry borer, belonging to the tribe Cryphalini, which is a serious pest of coffee in the Hawaiian Islands, and four widespread adventive species belonging to the tribe Xyleborini, including Xyleborus ferrugineus (Fabricius, 1801), whose frass has been demonstrated to be able to contain a fungus that is a causative agent of the plant disease Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death which currently poses a threat to native ʻōhiʻa lehua trees. These records are presented and discussed in detail, and the newly recorded species are illustrated in colour photographs.

The endemic Hawaiian moth genus Hyposmocoma includes 348 described species and perhaps twice as many that remain undescribed. The genus is unusual within Lepidoptera in that its larvae create distinctive silk cases in which they perambulate while protected and camouflaged. An extraordinary diversity of case types exists, and to date more than ten different types have been identified, each corresponding roughly to a separate evolutionary lineage. In this study, we describe three new species of Hyposmocoma: H. ipohapuu sp. n. from Big Island, H. makawao sp. n. from Makawao Forest Reserve in Maui and H. tantala sp. n. from Mt. Tantalus, Oahu, all of which produce tubular purse cases during their larval stage. We also describe the female of H. inversella Walsingham, which was previously undescribed, and re-describe two closely related species, H. auropurpurea Walsingham and H. nebulifera Walsingham, neither which have been formally described in recent years. We present for the first time, the CAD primer sequences for Hyposmocoma and relatives. The molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial and nuclear loci demonstrates that all are distinct species. The discovery of a new, endemic species from Mt. Tantalus, an area with many invasive species, suggests that even relatively degraded areas in Hawaii would be worthy of active conservation efforts.

Endemic Hawaiian Drosophilidae, a radiation of nearly 1000 species including 13 federally listed as endangered, occur mostly in intact native forest, 500-1500 m above sea level. But their persistence in disturbed forest and agricultural areas has not been documented. Thus, control efforts for agricultural pests may impact endemic species if previously undocumented refugia in agricultural areas may play a role in their conservation. To quantify whether invasive plants and agriculture habitats may harbor endemic Drosophilidae, we established standardized trapping arrays, with traps typically designed to control invasive fruit flies (Tephritidae), with 81 sites across native, disturbed and agricultural land use gradients on the islands of Hawai'i and Maui. We collected and identified, to species level, over 22,000 specimens. We found 121 of the possible 292 species expected to occur in the sampled areas, and the majority (91%) of the captured specimens belonged to 24 common species. Species diversity and numbers were greatest in the native forest, but 55% of the species occurred in the invasive strawberry guava belt and plantation forest, adjacent to and almost 500 m from native forest, and 22 species were collected in orchards and nonnative forest as far as 10 km from native habitats. Their persistence outside of native forest suggests that more careful management of disturbed forest and a reassessment of its conservation value are in order. Conservation efforts and assessments of native forest integrity should include the subset of species restricted to intact native forest, since these species are highly localized and particularly sensitive. Additionally, future efforts to control invasive pest fruit flies should consider the nontarget impacts of maintaining traps in and near native forest. This survey project demonstrates the utility of thorough biotic surveys and taxonomic expertise in developing both sensitive species lists and baseline diversity indices for future conservation and monitoring efforts.

Survey data over the last 100 years indicate that populations of the endemic Hawaiian leafroller moth, Omiodes continuatalis (Wallengren) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), have declined, and the species is extirpated from large portions of its original range. Declines have been attributed largely to the invasion of non-native parasitoid species into Hawaiian ecosystems. To quantify changes in O. continuatalis distribution, we applied the maximum entropy modeling approach using Maxent. The model referenced historical (1892-1967) and current (2004-2008) survey data, to create predictive habitat suitability maps which illustrate the probability of occurrence of O. continuatalis based on historical data as contrasted with recent survey results. Probability of occurrence is predicted based on the association of biotic (vegetation) and abiotic (proxy of precipitation, proxy of temperature, elevation) environmental factors with 141 recent and historic survey locations, 38 of which O. continuatalis were collected from. Models built from the historical and recent surveys suggest habitat suitable for O. continuatalis has changed significantly over time, decreasing both in quantity and quality. We reference these data to examine the potential effects of non-native parasitoids as a factor in changing habitat suitability and range contraction for O. continuatalis. Synthesis and applications: Our results suggest that the range of O. continuatalis, an endemic Hawaiian species of conservation concern, has shrunk as its environment has degraded. Although few range shifts have been previously demonstrated in insects, such contractions caused by pressure from introduced species may be important factors in insect extinctions.

BACKGROUND: The light brown apple moth (LBAM), Epiphyas postvittana (Walker), is native to Australia but invaded England, New Zealand, and Hawaii more than 100 years ago. In temperate climates, LBAM can be a major agricultural pest. In 2006 LBAM was discovered in California, instigating eradication efforts and quarantine against Hawaiian agriculture, the assumption being that Hawaii was the source of the California infestation. Genetic relationships among populations in Hawaii, California, and New Zealand are crucial to understanding LBAM invasion dynamics across the Pacific. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We sequenced mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 1293 LBAM individuals from California (695), Hawaii (448), New Zealand (147), and Australia (3) to examine haplotype diversity and structure among introduced populations, and evaluate the null hypothesis that invasive populations are from a single panmictic source. However, invasive populations in California and New Zealand harbor deep genetic diversity, whereas Hawaii shows low level, shallow diversity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: LBAM recently has established itself in California, but was in Hawaii and New Zealand for hundreds of generations, yet California and New Zealand show similar levels of genetic diversity relative to Hawaii. Thus, there is no clear relationship between duration of invasion and genetic structure. Demographic statistics suggest rapid expansion occurring in California and past expansions in New Zealand; multiple introductions of diverse, genetically fragmented lineages could contribute to these patterns. Hawaii and California share no haplotypes, therefore, Hawaii is not the source of the California introduction. Paradoxically, Hawaii and California share multiple haplotypes with New Zealand. New Zealand may be the source for the California and Hawaii infestations, but the introductions were independent, and Hawaii was invaded only once. This has significant implications for quarantine, and suggests that probability of invasion is not directly related to geographic distance. Surprisingly, Hawaiian LBAM populations have much lower genetic diversity than California, despite being older.

Saltational evolution in which a particular lineage undergoes relatively rapid, significant, and unparalleled change as compared with its closest relatives is rarely invoked as an alternative model to the dominant paradigm of gradualistic evolution. Identifying saltational events is an important first-step in assessing the importance of this discontinuous model in generating evolutionary novelty. We offer evidence for three independent instances of saltational evolution in a charismatic moth genus with only eight species.Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian search criteria offered congruent, well supported phylogenies based on 1,965 base pairs of DNA sequence using the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit I, and the nuclear genes elongation factor-1 alpha and wingless. Using a comparative methods approach, we examined three taxa exhibiting novelty in the form of Batesian mimicry, host plant shift, and dramatic physiological differences in light of the phylogenetic data. All three traits appear to have evolved relatively rapidly and independently in three different species of Proserpinus. Each saltational species exhibits a markedly different and discrete example of discontinuous trait evolution while remaining canalized for other typical traits shared by the rest of the genus. All three saltational taxa show insignificantly different levels of overall genetic change as compared with their congeners, implying that their divergence is targeted to particular traits and not genome-wide.Such rapid evolution of novel traits in individual species suggests that the pace of evolution can be quick, dramatic, and isolated--even on the species level. These results may be applicable to other groups in which specific taxa have generated pronounced evolutionary novelty. Genetic mechanisms and methods for assessing such relatively rapid changes are postulated.

We examined resilience to extreme reduction of habitat, and long-term and long-distance isolation for an endemic species using California's Santa Barbara Island as a natural model. The island is smaller than 260 ha, has been isolated by 40 km of ocean from the nearest other island for more than 10,000 years and was severely impacted by human activities and feral browsers during at least the past 90 years. Less than 0.2 km2 of native plant cover remains, yet seven apparently endemic plants and animals persist, including a moth, Argyrotaenia isolatissima (Tortricidae). Using mitochondrial DNA sequence we examined the levels of genetic divergence between the moth and its closest relatives on the other Channel Islands and the California mainland. A. isolatissima has 15 bp differences, including one non-synonymous substitution, from the most closely related taxon, on San Nicolas Island. Both parsimony and likelihood-based molecular systematic analyses confirm the evolutionary independence of A. isolatissima and indicate that portions of an endemic flora and fauna may persist in small fragments, despite long-term isolation and disturbance. Habitat conservation planning may underestimate the value of very small, temporally and spatially isolated fragments of native habitat not only to maintain, but also to generate endemic biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]