Identification of Euseius wainstein (Acari: Phytoseiidae) species found in Turkey by morphological and molecular methods

In this study, the morphological identifications of four Euseius species, E. amissibilis (=E. gallicus), E. finlandicus, E. scutalis and E. stipulatus, whose natural populations are known in Turkey, were supported and confirmed by molecular methods. It was determined that the morphological characters and measurements of the examined individuals of the Euseius species agreed with their original and redescriptions. In the study, DNA isolation of these four Euseius species, identified by morphological methods, and amplification of these DNAs with a primer of the ITS gene region by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were successfully carried out. The obtained PCR products were visualized by gel electrophoresis, and bands with a weight of 630 base pairs (bp), known to belong to phytoseiid mites, were obtained. According to the results of BLAST analysis, a 99-100% similarity has been determined between a total of 7 samples belonging to the species E. amissibilis (2), E. finlandicus (2), E. scutalis (2) and E. stipulatus (1) which were compared with the sequences of the relevant species available in the GenBank. In the phylogenetic tree, it was observed that the four Euseius species showed separate branches from each other and from Kampimodromus ragusai, which was used as an outgroup, and that the sequences obtained from different individuals and/or populations of a species were included in the same group. When the morphological and molecular data obtained in the study were considered together, it was concluded that the shape of dorsal plate and the shape of spermatheca may be the most basic morphological features in the classification of Euseius species.