How did that moth get in your cocoa? Evolution of the cocoa pod borer (Conopomorpha cramerella)

Conopomorpha cramerella is native to southeast Asia. From the historical record, it appears that one or more populations of this species expanded or altered their host range to include cocoa in north Sulawesi in the 1840s, when it apparently evolved into the cocoa pod borer. There is evidence that only one of three forms of the insect, based on wing-patterns, attacks cocoa in at least some areas, such in Papua New Guinea’s East New Britain Province. There is also some ambiguity as to whether there are different “pheromone races” among cocoa pod borer populations, as measured by difference in the effectiveness of various pheromone blends in different regions. Molecular genetic markers support the existence of races or subspecies within C. cramerella.