Phylogenetic analyzes of some Terellia Rob-Des (Diptera: Tephritidae) species based on mitochondrial DNA COI

In this study, 6 species (Terellia fuscicornis (Loew, 1844), T. longicauda (Meigen, 1838), T. nigripalpis Hendel, 1927, T. quadratula (Loew, 1869), T. ruficauda (Fabricius, 1794) and T. serratulae (Linnaeus, 1758) and Terellia sp. which is similar morphological characteristics with T. nigripalpis of the genus Terellia Rob-Des, 1830 (Diptera: Tephritiae) were examined. Specimens collected from different regions of Turkey between 2009 and 2021 have been exanined. In the study, phylogenetic relationships were revealed based on the mitochondrial DNA COI barcode gene of a total of 7 species. Orellia falcata (Scopoli, 1763) was used as an outgroup by using fasta data obtained from NCBI gene bank. DNA sequences of 44 samples belonging to 7 species used in the study were manually corrected by Seq Trace. Sequences were aligned using the Bioedit program. Neighbor Joining and Maximum Likelihood analysis were made using the MEGAX program according to the 614 positions determined, and belonging these analysis trees showing phylogenetic relationship were created. Also, Bayesian tree was created with the Mr. Bayesian program. According to the obtained trees, Terellia quadratula species formed a separate branch with Orellia falcata, which was determined as the outgroup each time. Although other species show similar affinities with their host plant preferences, data to be obtained with more markers for more comprehensive evaluations will allow to understand the phylogenetic relationships of the genus. This study is the first COI-based study to understand the phylogenetic relationships of this genus and will be an important reference for new studies.