Integrative Morphometric and Molecular Characterization of Diarrhegma modestum (Fabricius, 1805) (Diptera: Tephritidae) Demonstrates Evolutionary Cohesion and Implications for Sustainable Pest Management

Integrative Morphometric and Molecular Characterization of Diarrhegma modestum (Fabricius, 1805) (Diptera: Tephritidae) Demonstrates Evolutionary Cohesion and Implications for Sustainable Pest Management | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Integrative Morphometric and Molecular Characterization of Diarrhegma modestum (Fabricius, 1805) (Diptera: Tephritidae) Demonstrates Evolutionary Cohesion and Implications for Sustainable Pest Management Kavin Palanivelu, Usharani Balakrishnan, Sandeep Singh, Kamala Jayanthi Pagadala Damodaram, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9162404/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Fruit fly infestations pose a persistent threat to tropical fruit production, yet integrative morphometric and molecular studies remain limited for emerging Tephritid pests in South Asia. Diarrhegma modestum (Fabricius, 1805) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a recently re-emerging species attacking Cucurbita maxima , Trichosanthes cucumerina , Luffa acutangular , Mangifera indica , Psidium guajav a and other hosts, but its morphological variability, genetic stability, and evolutionary position have not been comprehensively characterized. This study bridges that knowledge gap by integrating morphometric, multivariate, and molecular phylogenetic analyses to define intraspecific structure and evolutionary relationships of D. modestum populations from South India. Morphometric evaluation revealed pronounced sexual dimorphism, with females exhibiting the largest size difference in whole-body length (6.41 mm) compared to males (5.16 mm). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) explained 56.95% of total variance, identifying head width, thorax width, wing width, and antenna length as positively correlated traits forming a dominant “size-breadth” axis associated with flight and reproductive performance. The mitochondrial COI sequence analysis (682 bp) confirmed 97.8–99.2% identity with reference D. modestum accessions, while Bayesian and chronogram analyses dated the Diarrhegma–Carpomya divergence to 9–11 Mya, reflecting moderate substitution rates (0.1567 subs/site/unit time) and neutral evolution. By linking morphometric differentiation with genetic stability, this study establishes a diagnostic and evolutionary framework for sustainable pest management. The integrative characterization enables oviposition-targeted surveillance, female-biased baiting, and molecularly validated monitoring. Together, these insights provide a foundation for precision-based, eco-adaptive strategies that strengthen fruit-fly management and support resilient tropical agroecosystems. Diarrhegma modestum Morphometric analysis Principal Component Analysis (PCA) COI barcoding Bayesian phylogeny Evolutionary divergence and Sustainable pest management Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Figures are available in the Supplementary Files section. Tables are available in the Supplementary Files section. Table 6 is not available with this version Supplementary Files Tables.doc Figures.doc Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9162404","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":610754595,"identity":"53712683-0071-4d10-8ad3-0e4f7807fef5","order_by":0,"name":"Kavin Palanivelu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kavin","middleName":"","lastName":"Palanivelu","suffix":""},{"id":610754597,"identity":"53961fe5-c11d-4833-a41e-b606e36cb497","order_by":1,"name":"Usharani 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phylogeny, Evolutionary divergence and Sustainable pest management","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9162404/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9162404/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eFruit fly infestations pose a persistent threat to tropical fruit production, yet integrative morphometric and molecular studies remain limited for emerging Tephritid pests in South Asia. \u003cem\u003eDiarrhegma modestum\u003c/em\u003e (Fabricius, 1805) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a recently re-emerging species attacking \u003cem\u003eCucurbita maxima\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eTrichosanthes cucumerina\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLuffa acutangular\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eMangifera indica\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePsidium guajav\u003c/em\u003ea and other hosts, but its morphological variability, genetic stability, and evolutionary position have not been comprehensively characterized. This study bridges that knowledge gap by integrating morphometric, multivariate, and molecular phylogenetic analyses to define intraspecific structure and evolutionary relationships of \u003cem\u003eD. modestum\u003c/em\u003e populations from South India. Morphometric evaluation revealed pronounced sexual dimorphism, with females exhibiting the largest size difference in whole-body length (6.41 mm) compared to males (5.16 mm). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) explained 56.95% of total variance, identifying head width, thorax width, wing width, and antenna length as positively correlated traits forming a dominant \u0026ldquo;size-breadth\u0026rdquo; axis associated with flight and reproductive performance. The mitochondrial COI sequence analysis (682 bp) confirmed 97.8\u0026ndash;99.2% identity with reference \u003cem\u003eD. modestum\u003c/em\u003e accessions, while Bayesian and chronogram analyses dated the \u003cem\u003eDiarrhegma\u0026ndash;Carpomya\u003c/em\u003e divergence to 9\u0026ndash;11 Mya, reflecting moderate substitution rates (0.1567 subs/site/unit time) and neutral evolution. By linking morphometric differentiation with genetic stability, this study establishes a diagnostic and evolutionary framework for sustainable pest management. The integrative characterization enables oviposition-targeted surveillance, female-biased baiting, and molecularly validated monitoring. Together, these insights provide a foundation for precision-based, eco-adaptive strategies that strengthen fruit-fly management and support resilient tropical agroecosystems.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Integrative Morphometric and Molecular Characterization of Diarrhegma modestum (Fabricius, 1805) (Diptera: Tephritidae) Demonstrates Evolutionary Cohesion and Implications for Sustainable Pest Management","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-27 07:13:11","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9162404/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"ce770816-8193-464a-ae0e-cbb4ae891a15","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 27th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-27T07:13:11+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-27 07:13:11","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9162404","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9162404","identity":"rs-9162404","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}