Ghazali, S. Z., Md-Zain, B. M. and Yaakop, S.
Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 37, Issue 2, May 2014
Keywords: DNA barcoding, COI gene, Spodoptera exigua, Pediobius sp., fern
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Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidea) is a polyphagous pest that attacks many important agricultural crops. Identifying an insect specimen is a crucial step in entomology. This study demonstrated a molecular method to identify the species of pest and its parasitoid in the case of a lack of a morphological identification key. To facilitate the identification of these pest-parasitoid species, a DNA barcoding approach was used for accurate and time-consuming identification based on nucleotide sequencing analysis of the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. DNA barcoding sequences successfully identified both pest and parasitoid species by comparing barcode sequences to the GenBank database. This study provided evidence of Pediobius sp. as a parasitoid of S. exigua in Malaysia.
ISSN 1511-3701
e-ISSN 2231-8542