Evidence for Reconsidering the Taxonomic Status of Closely Related Oligonychus Species in punicae Complex (Acari: Prostigmata: Tetranychidae).

ABSTRACT: To elucidate the taxonomic problems in species delineation within the Oligonychus punicae complex (O. punicae, O. mangiferus, and O. vitis) (Acari: Prostigmata: Tetranychidae), we performed morphological and molecular investigations on mite samples, collected from different hosts/countries. Thirty-nine samples of punicae complex, collected from Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia (SA), did not show any considerable morphological differences in females and males. All 39 samples of the punicae complex resembled the original description of O. punicae, while the claimed Mexican O. punicae was distinctively different based on male aedeagus. Molecularly, the low nucleotide diversity ranged from 0% to 2.1% (ITS2-rDNA) and 0% to 1% (COI-mtDNA), and was observed among various DNA sequences of the pun

SUBMITTER: Mushtaq HMS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9864387 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature