The New World screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, is a major parasite causing myiasis in livestock, humans, and other warm-blooded animals in the western hemisphere. It has been eradicated from North and Central America to the Panama - Colombian border where a permanent quarantine zone is maintained. However, it still exists in much of the Caribbean and South America causing an estimated annual loss of $3.5 billion dollars in South America. Previously, a habitat suitability model predicted connection corridors for this fly in South America. However, this model did not include data for the Caribbean. Thus, this study focused on producing a Caribbean ecological niche model and using landscape genetics to examine genetic diversity spatially. An ecological niche model was obtained using novel Caribbean occurrence coordinates from sampling and the literature. Genetic distance was calculated using SNPs to produce a genetic matrix to produce a genetic divergence raster. The results of the ecological niche model and genetic divergence spatial analysis will be presented. This information will aid in screwworm surveillance and control programs by providing habitat suitability and dispersal predictions in the Caribbean for this fly.
