Molecular and behavioural evidence suggesting a re-examination of the taxonomy of Aproaerema simplexella (Walker), Aproaerema modicella (Deventer) and Stomopteryx subsecivella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) N.M. Buthelezi 1,4 * , G.E. Zharare 2 & D.E. Conlong 3,4 1 Mangosuthu University of Technology, P.O. Box 12363, Jacobs, 4026 South Africa 2 Department of Agriculture, University of Zululand, Private Bag X1001, KwaDlangezwa, 3886 South Africa 3 South African Sugarcane Research Institute, Private Bag X02, Mount Edgecombe, 4300 South Africa 4 School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209 South Africa Since 2000, the groundnut leaf miner has increasingly become a pest of groundnut and soya bean on the African continent. The origin of the pest in Africa is uncertain. Early reports in South Africa assumed it was an invasion of Aproaerema modicella (Deventer) from the Asian continent, but subsequent mitochondrial DNA COI gene (mtDNA COI) fingerprinting matched it to Aproaerema simplexella (Walker, 1864) from Australia. Prior to this, reports in the 1950s recorded it in Africa under the name Stomopteryx subsecivella (Zeller, 1852). Further- more, it was found that A. simplexella responded to the species-specific lure developed from the sex pheromone of A. modicella. As a result of these apparent anomalies, we examined the genetic relatedness of the above species from Africa, India and Australia. mtDNA COI analy- sis was performed on 44 specimens collected from South Africa, four from Mozambique, and three each from single locations in India and Australia. In the BOLD gene bank, 70 % of the specimens analysed matched with A. simplexella sequences from Australia (99–100 %), including all three specimens from both India and Australia, and two from Mozambique. In the remaining specimens, the match was 98–99 %. Two specimens, later to be identified as parasitoids, did not match with any sequences in the BOLD gene bank. In the NCBI gene bank, 81 % of the sequences matched 99–100 %, and a further 15 % matched 92–98 % with A. simplexella sequences. Based on these mtDNA COI analyses, and the similarities of the behavioural responses originally noted between the species, we thus suggest the re-exami- nation of the taxonomy and synonymisation of the three populations of the two species. Key words: Africa, Australia, India, mitochondrial DNA, pheromone response. INTRODUCTION Groundnut and soya bean production on the African continent is threatened by what is commonly known as groundnut leaf miner (GLM) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). In Africa, it became a major pest of both crops around 2000 (Du Plessis 2002; Kenis & Cugala 2006). The pest is a small moth whose larva mine between the upper and lower epidermis of the leaf, thereby reducing the photosynthetically active leaf area, which adversely affects the growth and yield of the crop. A single larva destroys from 34.8 to 179.3 cm 2 of leaf area (Islam et al. 1983; Shanower 1989). The damaged leaves eventually become brownish, rolled and desiccated, which results in early defo- liation (Kenis & Cugala 2006), and this further negatively impacts on the growth and yield of the groundnut plants. In groundnut, GLM can cause up to 90 % loss in total yield (Reddy 1978; Sumithramma 1998), and where there are no natural enemies, an epidemic can result in total crop loss (Wightman & Ranga Rao 1993). The GLM in Africa is thought to be a recent inva- sion of Aproaerema modicella (Deventer) (Lepido- ptera: Gelechiidae) from the Asian continent (Du Plessis 2002; Kenis & Cugala 2006). However, there are reports dating back to 1950s that show a moth similar to A. modicella that was referred to as Stomo- pteryx subsecivella (Zeller) [= Gelechia (Brachmia) sub- secivella Zeller, 1852] recorded as being of non-eco- nomic importance in Africa (Janse 1954; Moham- mad 1981). In Australia, there is a soya bean pest (Aproaerema simplexella (Walker) [= Gelechia sim- plexella Walker, 1864]), which is morphologically similar to A. modicella in Asia (Bailey, 2007) and the GLM found in Africa (Buthelezi et al. 2012). *Author for correspondence. E-mail: buthelezim@mut.ac.za ISSN 1021-3589 [Print]; 2224-8854 [Online] African Entomology 24(1): 16–23 (2016) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4001/003.024.0016 ©Entomological Society of Southern Africa