The Effects of Space Dimension and Temperature on the Cross Mating of Three Cryptic Species of the B

The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci(Homoptera:Aleyrodidae)is a destructive pest of agriculture and horticulture worldwide.Recent phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 sequences indicates that this whitefly is a species complex including at least 24 morphologically indistinguishable but genetically distinct cryptic species.In this study,the inter-species crosses of Middle East-Asia Minor 1(MEAM1),Mediterranean(MED)and Asia II 7 cryptic species,which were referred to as B,Q and Cv biotypes before,were conducted in two different devices,leaf cages(7 cm3)and cylinder cages(280 cm3),and at three temperatures of 22,30 and 38°C.Results indicated that no female progeny were produced in the reciprocal cross between MEAM1×Asia II 7,between MED×Asia II 7 cryptic species neither in leaf cage nor in cylinder cages,while 0.81 and 1.37% of females in the offspring were recorded in the reciprocal cross between MEAM1×MED in leaf cage experiments.Approximately 0.95-0.98% female progeny were recorded in the reciprocal cross between MEAM1×MED at 30°C,0.77% female progeny were recorded in the single cross direction between MEAM1 × MED at 22°C,and no female progeny were found in their reciprocal cross at 38°C in leaf cage.Our findings indicated that neither space dimension nor temperature have a significant effect on the hybridization of different B.tabaci cryptic species.