Rapid molecular identification of five species of Trichogramma occurring in the Canary Islands with notes on their distribution in banana groves

Author： Pino Modesto Rugman-Jones Paul Hernández-Suárez Estrella Polaszek Andrew Stouthamer Richard

Publisher： Springer Publishing Company

ISSN： 1386-6141

Source： BioControl, Vol.58, Iss.4, 2013-08, pp. : 515-524

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Abstract

Trichogramma egg parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) have been identified as the most important natural enemies of the golden twin-spot moth, Chrysodeixis chalcites (Esper, 1789) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), in banana crops grown in the Canary Islands. However, accurate identification of the Trichogramma spp. involved is complicated by their small size (<1 mm) and a general paucity of diagnostic morphological characters. Molecular identification, based on differences in DNA sequences, is commonly employed to identify Trichogramma spp., but it results in high costs associated with sequencing, and therefore may not be practical for studies aimed at surveying the distribution of species. Here, we present a simple, quick and accurate method to identify the five species of Trichogramma commonly associated with C. chalcites in the Canary Islands: T. achaeae Nagaraja and Nagarkatti, T. bourarachae Pintureau and Babault, T. euproctidis (Girault), T. evanescens Westwood and T. sp. nr. brassicae. This method is based on amplification of ribosomal DNA, using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with multiplexed, species-specific primers.