Molecular characterization of Haplothrips cerealis Priesner 1939 as a synonym of Haplothrips tritici (Kurdjumov, 1912)

The present study was conducted utilizing collected thrips individuals from 39 localities in cereal production areas of Lakes of Region, Turkey during 2016–2017. Thrips individuals were sampled from plant foliage and ears using the destructive sample method (randomly in each field) and strike method (in each field, 100 beats). Specimens were transferred with a fine brush to 1.5 ml eppendorf tubes containing 95% ethanol and stored at -20 °C until analysis. Specimens were retrieved after the first step of DNA extraction and mounted onto slides using Canada balsam. Mitochondrial DNA Cytochrome Oxidase I gene location is used in the diagnosis of thrips. Polymerase Chain Reaction was performed using universal primers. 629–641 bp was obtained in the Cytochrome Oxidase I gene region of 59 individuals, including Haplothrips cerealis and Haplothrips tritici after morphological identification. Molecular characterization revealed that all the sequenced specimens were Haplothrips tritici.