Taxonomic and Molecular Studies on the Insect Tribe Mecysolobini Coleoptera Curculionidae Molytinae of India

Abstract

1 newlineAbstract newlineTaxonomy delivers basic and indispensable information about biodiversity conservation, newlinebiosecurity and agriculture. Taxonomy provides a stable framework for the development of newlineknowledge of the harmful insects causing agricultural losses as well as the beneficial insects. newlineBasic taxonomy and species identification are essential components of an extensive integrated newlinepest control plan and the development of keys for the identification of harmful pests. Accurate newlineidentification is now available for the adult stages, which must be supplemented with new newlinecharacters and integration key characters. In addition, new characters could be explored by newlineadults. Also, there is a need to integrate molecular studies so as to make this an advanced and newlineholistic approach to devising authentic pest diagnostics for the management of these pests. This newlinewill also allow for references to phylogeny and evolution, which are necessary for a natural newlineclassification of this economically important group. newlineThe mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene is amplified from a 710-bp region newlinein a variety of insects through the universal DNA primers LCO1490 and HCO2198. These newlineprimers are currently being used to investigate the phylogenetic relationships within the newlineMecysolobini tribe. newlineCloning techniques are used in the study to save the desired fragment for future newlinereference for the identification of similar specimen sequences and to maintain the desired DNA newlinefragment in good quality for a longer period of time. newlineThis work uses both traditional taxonomy research and cutting-edge molecular newlinetechniques to identify the species and genus of the insect tribe Mecysolobini. The molecular newlineapproaches, such as DNA barcoding and phylogenetic studies, give proven results on the newlinemorphology and taxonomy of insects. In the study, classical taxonomy provides good newlineillustrations with the help of advanced microscopic techniques and dissection of genitalia gives newlineelaborate identification of species with morphologically close resemblance species. newlineKeyw