Molecular Evaluation of the Phylogenetic Position of Loxostege Ayhanana Kemal & Koçak, 2017 From East Turkey (Lepidoptera: Crambidae, Pyraustinae)

Abstract

Very few molecular studies on the phylogeny of the Loxostege Hübner, [1825] have been performed because molecular data of this highly crowded group are extremely scarce. In the present study, the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene of Loxostege ayhanana Kemal & Koçak, 2017 was firstly sequenced from East Turkey. The phylogenetic trees constructed using neighbor-joining, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods yielded essentially similar topologies. The genus Loxostege was not depicted as a monophyletic clade when evaluated within the Pyraustinae. The molecular characterization and phylogenetic position of L. ayhanana, which was described by KEMAL & KOÇAK (2017) as a morphological new species, has been firstly identified and supported by molecular phylogenetic analyses in the present study. © 2020, Soc Hispano-Luso-Amer Lepidopterologia-Shilap. All rights reserved.