The fruit fly genus Ceratitis MacLeay (Diptera: Tephritidae) comprises 89 described species that are native to Africa ( De Meyer 2000a, De Meyer and Copeland 2005, Barr and McPheron 2006). The DNA barcode and restriction fragment-length polymorphism methods provide similar identification results, but the DNA sequence information is more suitable for quantitative analysis of the information. The DNA barcoding method based on genetic distance is compared with a molecular identification method using restriction fragment length polymorphism.
Levels of intraspecific diversity vary within the genus Ceratitis and multiple copies of the mitochondrial gene are reported for Ceratitis cosyra (Walker). caetrata lineage from other Ceratitis species.
When treated as a single taxon, it is possible to discern the C.
capitata from its close relative Ceratitis caetrata Munro, based on genetic distances, parsimony networks, or nucleotide diagnostic characters observed in the DNA barcode sequences. The utility of the cytochrome oxidase I gene barcode region for diagnosis of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Weidemann), is evaluated using African fruit fly collections.
