Isolation and characterization of eight microsatellite loci from Lycorma delicatula (White) (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) for population genetic analysis in South Korea

Lycorma delicatula (White) is native to China, but is becoming an important insect pest on some fruit trees, especially, grapevine in South Korea after its first invasion to South Korea in 2004. The main goals of this study were to develop the microsatellites markers of L. delicatula and to understand its population genetics in South Korea. We isolated and characterized 8 microsatellite loci for L. delicatula using hybridization-biotin enrichment method. These new microsatellite loci were employed to determine population genetic parameters for 33 L. delicatula specimens collected from Cheonan in South Korea. Numbers of alleles per locus ranged from three to ten with an average of 6.25. Mean expected (HE) and observed heterozygosity (HO) were 0.575 and 0.626, respectively. Eight loci showed no deviation from Hardy-Weinberg proportion, according to adjusted threshold (p=0.00625) and no linkage disequilibrium. These new markers should facilitate the study of future ecological population genetics of L. delicatula.