On the Identity of Cereal Aphid Parasitoid WaspsAphidius uzbekistanicus,Aphidius rhopalosiphi, andAphidius avenaphis(Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) by Examination of COI Mitochondrial Gene, Geometric Morphometrics, and Morphology

Abstract

In this study, the relationships among and the taxonomic status of three closely related parasitic wasps that are widely used as biological control agents of cereal aphids, Aphidius uzbekistanicus Luzhetzki, Aphidius rhopalosiphi De Stefani Perez, and Aphidius avenaphis (Fitch), were examined. Genetic divergence at an average of 6% was recorded between A. uzbekistanicus and A. rhopalosiphi by using the mitochondrial (mt) gene cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcoding region. Identical mtCOI gene sequences were observed in A. uzbekistanicus specimens that originated from Eurasia and in the North American species A. avenaphis. The haplotype fluctuation in A. rhopalosiphi specimens that originated from the west Palaearctic was an average of 1.5% (maximum, 2.4%). In contrast, specimens of A. uzbekistanicus from central and western parts of Eurasia were largely homogenous, with only a single mutation recorded in a specimen from eastern Europe (Serbia). The morphological and genetic diversity found in A. rhopalosiphi may suggest the existence of cryptic species, especially for lineages that have a large degree of mtCOI diversity and sympatric occurrence. The geometric morphometric analysis of stigma shape presented in this study demonstrated that members of A. uzbekistanicus have a shorter forewing r vein and a more elongated stigma, relative to those of A. avenaphis. Our research validates the use of stigma shape and flagellomere 1 color for morphological discrimination between wasp species.

Application of DNA barcoding to the identification of Hymenoptera parasitoids from the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines) in China

“…Aphidius uzbekistanicus Luzhetski shares an identical COI sequence with A. avenaphis (Fitch) (Kos et al ., ). A. uzbekistanicus was also reported distributed in China (Chen & Shi, ).…”

“…Aphidius uzbekistanicus Luzhetski shares an identical COI sequence with A. avenaphis (Fitch) (Kos et al, 2011).…”

Landscape scale study of diversity and interaction in cereal aphids - parasitoids system (Homoptera; Hymenoptera)

“…Razlike u broju i sastavu vrsta postoje na regionalnom nivou, ali ukupan broj po pojedinim evropskim zemljama uglavnom se kreće oko 8-10. Tako različiti autori navode oko 10 vrsta za prostor Španije (Lumbierres et al, 2007), Češke (Starý, 2006) i Britanije (Powell, 1982; jedna od vrsta navedenih za Britaniju je kasnije sinonimizirana -prema: Kos et al, 2011); Kavallieratos et al (2001) (Kos et al, 2009). U agroekosistemima predstavlja jednu od najznačajnih vrsta u parazitskim spektrima žitnih vašiju.…”

“…Rasprostranjena je u većini zemalja zapadne, južne, centralne i jugoistočne Evrope kao i na Britanskim ostrvima, u Finskoj i u delovima Rusije (van Achterberg, 2013b). Koristi se kao agens u biološkoj kontroli i na taj način je introdukovan u Južnu Ameriku (Kos et al, 2011) i Novi Zeland (Farrell & Stufkensa, 1990).…”

“…Aphidius uzbekisatnicus Luzhetzki je vrsta koja najčešće parazitira biljne vaši iz roda Sitobion (Tomanović et al, 2013), mada se može naći i na vrstama Schizaphis graminum i Diuraphis noxia kao i na vrstama iz roda Metopolophium (Gruber et al, 1994;Kos et al, 2011). Često se javlja simpatrički sa vrstom A. rhopalosiphi sa kojom ima i velike morfološke sličnosti (Tomanović et al, 2013).…”