DNA barcoding of selected Scirtothrips species (Thysanoptera) from India

The members of the genus Scirtothrips are highly polyphagous, including major pest and vector species. We applied both morphology and molecular approaches to delimit the selected Scirtothrips species from India. Out of 43 generated barcode sequences, six sequences of three species (S. hitam, S. mangiferae, and S. malayensis) are the novel contribution in global database. The Bayesian (BA) phylogeny clearly distinguishes all the studied species with reciprocal monophyletic criteria and represents multiple clades in S. dorsalis and S. oligochaetus. The high Kimura-2-Parameter (K2P) genetic divergences were observed between the multiple clades of S. dorsalis (4.5–8.8%) and S. oligochaetus (6.4%), which indicating possible existence of cryptic diversity. The current study also provided the morphological keys for six Scirtothrips species including S. hitam as a new record to India.