Differentiation of the endemic New Zealand greenheaded and brownheaded leafroller moths by restriction fragment length variation in the ribosomal gene complex

This study identified markers in the ribosomal RNA gene complex (rDNA) and evaluated their utility in the differentiation of four endemic New Zealand species of leafroller moth, Planotortrix excessana (Walker), P. octo (Dugdale), Ctenopseustis herana (Felder and Rogenhofer) and C. obliquana (Walker). Pooled genomic DNA from laboratory-reared specimens of C. herana and C. obliquana could be distinguished with a single restriction enzyme (e.g. ClaI), while P. excessana and P. octo could be satisfactorily distinguished using double digestions with either ClaI/PvuII or ClaI/BglII. It is concluded mat these markers may be used to identify moths from wild populations.