Abstract: 【Aim】 A lot of Bactrocera species are important international quarantine pests. However, intra-specific morphological variation can become a serious limitation for the correct identification at the species level. The border areas of the Yunnan province, southwestern China are an important channel of invasion for Southeast Asian fruit fly. Developing a new method for identification of the fruit fly species has important significance for the rapid and accurate identification of the species. The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of species identification of DNA barcoding technology in the genus Bactrocera. 【Methods】 In this study, sixty samples from twenty species of Bactrocera were tested. Two mtDNA sequences, i.e., COI and COII sequences, were amplified and sequenced. The species identification efficiency for the two barcodes was assessed by distance-based method and neighbor-joining method. 【Results】 The average length of COI and COII sequences was 682 bp and 339 bp, respectively. There existed high intra-specific and inter-specific genetic variability and significant barcoding gap. The rates of successful identification with COI and COII sequences were 91.2% and 90.7%, respectively. The phylogenetic analyses suggest that the subgenus Sinodacus is not a monophyletic group. 【Conclusion】 COI and COII genes can be used to correctly identify the most species of Bactrocera.

Key words: Diptera, Tephritidae; Bactrocera, DNA barcoding, COI gene, COII gene, species identification