ARS | Publication request: Population structure of the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae) assessed on a global scale using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism

Submitted to: Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: September 20, 2012
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae), is a major pest of livestock in the United States and worldwide. To assess the genetic variability in geographically distant stable flies, samples were obtained from four biogeographical regions: Nearctic, Neotropical, Palearctic, and Australian. No samples were acquired from the Oriental region. Molecular markers were generated using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism and data were analyzed using the Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA). In all, 662 individuals from 20 locations were analyzed using 2 primer pairs which generated 191 loci per individual. The results showed a high level of gene flow on a global scale. FST and GST values were low and Nm values very high. The tests of neutrality suggested population expansion and tests for genetic differentiation simply reported “no differentiation”. AMOVA results show the majority of genetic diversity was within groups; very little genetic diversity was among groups. These results suggest that stable flies are panmictic with no isolation by distance or across geographical barriers. This indicates that control tactics from one region should be effective in other regions but also that resistance by stable flies to a control method may spread rapidly from one region to another.