Molecular characterization of phytoseiid mites in Turkey based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, with a new record for the country

Abstract

The family Phytoseiidae contains many predatory mite species and some are used in biological control programs worldwide. The identification of phytoseiid mites is based on tiny morphological structures and sometimes species diagnosis is not easy especially for nontaxonomists. DNA-based approaches may offer a fast and accurate diagnosis to overcome these difficulties, nevertheless more DNA sequences are needed to determine intra-and inter-specific variations and to provide accurate decision rules based on genetic distances between the taxa considered. In this study, we provide the molecular characterization of seven phytoseiid species based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Several populations of these species collected in Turkey were considered. A phylogenetic tree was also constructed. Finally, we record the presence of Neoseiulus reductus (Wainstein) in Turkey.

Morphological ontogeny and molecular analyses of geographic strains of two closely related Neoseiulus species (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

“…In the present study, the 28S nucleotide sequences showed that the two Neoseiulus species are different species as they formed separate clades. The ML tree also showed that the genus Neoseiulus appeared to be polyphyletic, which agrees with previous phylogenies based on the 12S rRNA genes of mtDNA (Tsolakis et al 2012) and the ITS region of nrDNA (Inak et al 2020). The current morphological and molecular analyses strengthen the taxonomic separation of the two species.…”

Re-descriptions of Neoseiulus reductus (Wainstein) and Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) caucasicus (Abbasova) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) from Turkey

“…Our examinations of the current specimens show some differences when compared to the re-description by Inak et al (2020). For example, our specimens have a reticulated dorsal shield and three macrosetae on leg IV as opposed to a smooth dorsal shield and only one macroseta on leg IV in Inak et al (2020). The three macrosetae are clearly illustrated by Kolodochka (1978) whereas the reticulated dorsal shield was only simply illustrated by Beglyarov (1981) and is not included in the other re-descriptions (Wainstein, 1962;Arutunjan, 1977;Kolodochka, 1978;Miedema, 1987;Inak et al, 2020).…”

“…Legs (Figure 5 World Distribution. Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine (Demite et al, 2020), Turkey (Inak et al, 2020), and this study.…”

“…Neoseiulus reductus was reported recently by Inak et al (2020), based on specimens collected from an unknown host in Bolu Province, Turkey. Our examinations of the current specimens show some differences when compared to the re-description by Inak et al (2020).…”

“…Neoseiulus reductus was reported recently by Inak et al (2020), based on specimens collected from an unknown host in Bolu Province, Turkey. Our examinations of the current specimens show some differences when compared to the re-description by Inak et al (2020). For example, our specimens have a reticulated dorsal shield and three macrosetae on leg IV as opposed to a smooth dorsal shield and only one macroseta on leg IV in Inak et al (2020).…”