Reliable molecular identification of nine tropical whitefly species

The identification of whitefly species in adult stage is problematic. Morphological differentiation of pupae is one of the better methods for determining identity of species, but it may vary depending on the host plant on which they develop which can lead to misidentifications and erroneous naming of new species. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragment amplified from the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene is often used for mitochondrial haplotype identification that can be associated with specific species. Our objective was to compare morphometric traits against DNA barcode sequences to develop and implement a diagnostic molecular kit based on a RFLP‐PCR method using the COI gene for the rapid identification of whiteflies. This study will allow for the rapid diagnosis of the diverse community of whiteflies attacking plants of economic interest in Colombia. It also provides access to the COI sequence that can be used to develop predator conservation techniques by establishing which predators have a trophic linkage with the focal whitefly pest species. We compared morphometric traits and DNA barcodes obtained from COI sequences to validate the robustness of the COI gene for species identification and to develop a diagnostic kit for the rapid identification of whiteflies. Our results clearly indicated that the COI sequence offers a powerful diagnostics means for molecular species identification. Furthermore, our study shows that intraspecific variation in the COI sequence can easily and robustly assess population structure in different whitefly species without the need of the sequencing step. The authors believe, this research opens new opportunities for ecologist, entomologist, pest management scientist and practitioners to facilitate their field methodologies. Additionally, we are contributing with six new COI‐species sequences that will help advancing our work in cassava whitefly resistance, as well as, that of tropical entomologist and ecologist researching on the characterization of predator communities feeding on whiteflies to improve integrated pest managements decisions. The fast identification of whitefly species in the tropics will also help in understanding pest dynamics under climate change constraints.