• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.107-120
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• 2017

Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is one of the most important insect pests in the world. In the present study, the taxonomic status of B. tabaci and the number of species composing the B. tabaci complex were determined based on 550 COI gene sequences of B. tabaci. Genetic divergence within B. tabaci ranged from 0% to 27.8% (average 11.1%). This result indicates that the B. tabaci complex is composed of multiple species that may belong to different genera or subfamilies. A phylogenetic tree constructed based on 217 COI gene sequences without duplications revealed that the B. tabaci complex is composed of a total of 43 putative species, including a new species, Java. In addition, genetic divergence within nine species (Australia, Asia II 1, Asia II 6, Asia II 7, Asia II 10, Mediterranean, New world, New world 2, Sub Saharan Africa 1) indicates that 4.0% is reasonable to be used as a threshold of species boundaries within the B. tabaci complex, and species with high intraspecific genetic divergences can be related with cryptic species.