PONE-D-20-32992

Morphometric and Molecular Discrimination of the sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari, (Zehntner, 1897) and the sorghum aphid Melanaphis sorghi (Theobald, 1904)

PLOS ONE

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Bernd Schierwater, Ph.D

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: The preseneted manuscript is an excellent example of combine morphological/molecular study resolving the problem of identification of the two important pest species of aphids. The Material and Method section is fully and precisly decsribed. The introduction and the discussion are adequate. My only advise is to change the order in the Results section as should be started with the molecular ones as it was described in the M&M. In the Table S1 in the locality the United States should be added as now are listed countries and states. S2 Table should be included into the main manuscript as there are important data concerning identification of the studied species.

Reviewer #2: The discrimination study of sugarcane aphid was performed with great care and up to date methods and statistics. The manuscript is well written and can easily be understood. The observations are interesting and important for our community.

The results show the importance of using more than one marker or taxonomic indicator for species identification or discrimination, which in my personal opinion should be a standard procedure! I congratulate the authors for a well done study and recommend publication.

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Karina Wieczorek

Reviewer #2: No

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Morphometric and Molecular Discrimination of the sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari, (Zehntner, 1897) and the sorghum aphid Melanaphis sorghi (Theobald, 1904)

PONE-D-20-32992R1

Dear Dr. Nibouche,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Bernd Schierwater, Ph.D

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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