Seven polymorphic microsatellite markers were isolated from Octodonta nipae(Maulik)(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae),an insect from Malaysia that has invaded several southern Chinese cities.This insect has a similar morphological profile,host plant,living habits and damageas the palm leaf beetle Brontispa longissim(Gestro),causing serious damage to most palms.Forty microsatellite loci were identified by transcriptome sequencing in O.nipae,and 36 of which were capable to amplify target bands.Two microsatellite loci were able to amplify the stable band between O.nipae and B.longissim,suggesting interspecies transferability.These sequences of PCR product were highly conserved,indicating a close genetic relationship between these two species.The PCR product of primer GT9 was about 100 bp long in O.nipae whereas 84 bp in B.longissima,which can be used for rapid identification of these two species.Out of 11 sequenced loci,seven were polymorphic(each containing 2-4 alleles),and six were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.The expected and observed heterozygosities of the seven loci ranged from 0.091 to 0.681 and from 0.083 to 0.583,in the two species studied,respectively.The observed heterozygosity was generally inferior to the expected heterozygosity,indicating inbreeding or genetic drift.In conclusion,these microsatellite loci are helpful to identify O.nipae and B.longissim,and they also can be used to analyze the genetic diversity of different O.nipae individuals,paving the way for research in population genetics and of the invasion pathways in O.nipae.