Molecular identification and characterization of gall wasp, Di-astrophus mayri, and its impacts on oak trees in Erbil province, Iraq
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59658/jkas.v12i4.5165Abstract
The identification of insect pests has become importance as assess the biological impacts of global climate change and try to protect species diversity in the face of accelerating habitat destruction. This study focuses on the morphometric and molecular identification of the gall wasp Diastrophus mayri (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) on oak trees in Erbil Province, Iraq. Twenty oak stem galls were collected from November 2024 to April 2025. Genomic DNA was extracted from adult wasps, and a partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene (~500 bp) was amplified by using PCR with universal primers. Sequencing and BLAST analysis confirmed 100% identity of the sampled wasps with D. mayri (Accession Number: DQ012639), distinguishing them from related species like D. turgidus (92.63% identity) and D. rubi (91.94%). Phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood methods further validated the species identification. This work represents the first molecular confirmation of D. mayri (Accession Number: PV299164) in Iraq's Kurdistan region and underscores the efficiency of DNA barcoding for accurate cynipid identification, overcoming limitations of morphological methods.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Copyright (c) 2024 is the Author's article. Published by the Journal of Kerbala for Agricultural Sciences under a CC BY 4.0 license
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