THE SEPARATION OF LIRIOMYZA-HUIDOBRENSIS (DIPTERA, AGROMYZIDAE) FROM RELATED INDIGENOUS AND NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES ENCOUNTERED IN THE UNITED-KINGDOM USING CELLULOSE-ACETATE ELECTROPHORESIS

The non-indigenous pest leaf miner Liriomyza huidobrensis and its clos e relatives L. bryoniae and L. strigata belong to a natural group. The se species can be separated from one another by means of protein elect rophoresis on a cellulose acetate membrane. The protocol for this diag nostic assay involves staining for two enzymes, glucose-6-phosphate de hydrogenase (G6PDH) and leucine-glycine peptidase (PEP). Other leaf mi ner species that might also be found under glass, Chromatomyia syngene siae, C. horticola and the non-indigenous L. trifolii and L. sativae, are clearly distinguishable from the L. huidobrensis group of species by this assay. The effect of parasitism on L. hiudobrensis by Dacnusa sibirica was investigated and shown unlikely to cause misidentificatio n of the leaf miner host. Results obtained from practical use of the a ssay to identify unknown specimens from ports and nurseries are compar ed with those obtained from flies kept in laboratory culture and used during development of the assay. No new variation was found for G6PDH. New PEP variation was found for both L. huidobrensis and L. bryoniae but this did not affect the integrity of the assay. A biochemical key to these agromyzid leaf miners is presented.