Abstract
Sycanus aurantiacus Ishikawa & Okajima, found in Bali, was first described in 2007 as a new harpactorine species based on morphological and biological characteristics; however, its genome has not yet been sequenced. In this study, we examine the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (MtCOI) nucleotide sequence of S. aurantiacus in order to determine whether it represents a new harpactorine species. A sample from Pancasari, Bali, Indonesia was collected at the same location S. aurantiacus was first discovered in 2007. The selected mtCOI gene (650 bp) was successfully amplified using mtCOI primer pairs LCO1490 and HCO2198, and the resulting MtCOI sequence of the S. aurantiacus sample was compared with those from other hapactorine species recorded in GenBank. This comparison revealed low genetic similarity between S. aurantiacus and most other harpactorine species worldwide, except for the Genus Sycanus (JQ888697) from USA whose mtCOI shares approximately 91% similarity with the Pancasari sample. Phylogenetic analysis indicated a close genetic relationship between Sycanus from Bali and the Genus Sycanus (JQ888697) from the USA. The mtCOI sequence of S. aurantiacus had not been recorded previously, and our comparison with existing Sycanus sequences provides support to the understanding that S. aurantiacus is indeed its own species.
Highlights
Members of the insect Subfamily Harpactorinae (“assassin bugs”) are natural pest enemies and play a very important ecological role as predators to a large number of other insect genera and species (Putshkov & Putshkov 1985; Maldonado-Capriles 1990)
The assassin bug has been utilized for biological pest control in commercial agriculture, such as the Sycanus dichotomus Stål which was known to be a predator of the bagworm in oil palm trees (Zulkefli et al 2004)
Assassin bug S. aurantiacus was successfully reared using the T. molitor larvae, which indicates a likelihood that S. aurantiacus would be easy to mass produce, since Tenebrio larvae are procured in bird markets in Bali where they are sold as bird food supplements
Summary
Members of the insect Subfamily Harpactorinae (“assassin bugs”) are natural pest enemies and play a very important ecological role as predators to a large number of other insect genera and species (Putshkov & Putshkov 1985; Maldonado-Capriles 1990). Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui sikuen nukleotida mtCOI S. aurantiacus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) yang merupakan spesies harpactorine baru dari Bali, Indonesia. S. aurantiacus was observed in cabbage plantations across the Bedugul region, including Pancasari (which lies more than 1,000 m above sea level). The Bali assassin bugs were determined to be an important predator of key cabbage pests including lepidopterans and other arthropods.
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