A survey and molecular diagnosis of flower fly species (Diptera : Syrphidae) in Central of Iraq

Abstract

A survey study was conducted to find out the species of flower flies and aphids in the alfalfa field from Abu Ghraib region - Iraq for the season 2018-2019. The survey results were eight species from seven genera belonged to two subfamilies (Syrphinae and Eristalinae). Syrphinae included five species: Eupeodes corollae, Episyrphus balteatus, Syrphus baltitus, Ischiodon scutellaris and Sphaerophoria scripta, while Eristalinae included three species: Eristalis pertinax, Eristalinus aeneus and Eristalinus sepulchralis. The highest population density was for E.corollae, followed by E.balteatus then S.scripta, which reached 3.1, 1.6, and 1.1 adult /trap, respectively. Four species of aphids on the alfalfa plant were also recorded in this study, these are Therioaphis maculata, Aphis fabae, Aphis craccivora and Myzus persicae. The results of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) showed the ability of primer ITS2-4 to diagnosis the species of flower flies E.corollae and E.balteatus. It was able to replicate the DNA segments with a molecular weight (450) bp, after it showed a percentage of 100% nucleotide matching with the genetic region located between the ribosomal RNA gene 5.8S and 28S ribosomal RNA. Moreover, the bank number MN648194 and MN648193 were recorded for Eupeodes corollae and Episyrphus balteatus respectively, for the first time in Iraq. Molecular diagnosis is matching with the morphological identify of the two species.