Morphological identification of mosquito species found in Mersin province and their molecular analysis using DNA barcoding method

This study was conducted to determine the mosquito species spread in Mersin province between 2021-2024. For this purpose, a total of 115 samples, including mosquito eggs, larvae and pupae, were created from the breeding areas detected in 42 neighborhoods of 7 districts within the borders of Mersin province. The collected mosquito eggs, larvae and pupae were examined morphologically after they reached adulthood under appropriate conditions and then molecularly analyzed using the DNA Barcoding method to identify the species. In order to molecularly determine the mosquito species, an evaluation was made according to the method based on the differences in the ITS2 region in rDNA and the DNA isolation of the collected mosquito species and the amplification of these DNAs with a primer belonging to the ITS gene region and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) were successfully performed. According to the results of BLAST analysis performed with the obtained gene sequences, it was determined that a total of 6 different mosquito species, namely Culex laticinctus, Culex perexiguus, Culex pipiens, Culex quinquefasciatus, Culiseta longiareolata, Ochlerotatus caspius showed similarity with the related species recorded in GenBank. A branching with 6 different mosquito species complexes was observed in the created phylogenetic tree. When the morphological and molecular data obtained in the study were evaluated together, the morphological diagnosis of the arms, which were thought to be 6 different species molecularly, was defined by Prof. Dr. Fatih Mehmet Şimşek as Aedes caspius, Anopheles sacharovi, Ochlerotatus caspius, Culex pipiens complex. It is concluded that the Culex pipiens complex is widespread in all areas of the region and more comprehensive studies on this complex are necessary.