Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
The mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) has long been suspected to be ineffective for species identification when employed alone. Some Lucilia (=Phaenicia) cuprina Wiedemann have mtDNA haplotypes closely resembling those of Lucilia sericata Meigen (Diptera: Calliphoridae), indicating paraphyly of L. cuprina with respect to L. sericata. Therefore, we evaluated the nuclear 28S rRNA and the mitochondrial cox1 genes to distinguish between L. cuprina and L. sericata using new DNA data from Northwest Africa. The current study provides the first evidence that L. cuprina occurs in Northwest Africa. The cox1 and the 28S genes were sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed using the maximum likelihood method with 1000 bootstrap replicates. Sequencing yielded around 675 bp for cox1 and 633 bp for 28S. All the sequences were accurately identified using the BLASTn and submitted to GenBank. The 28S analysis confirmed the two species' mutual monophyly. In contrast, the cox1 analysis showed that L. cuprina is divided into two distinct clades, paraphyletic with respect to L. sericata. The 28S sequences clustered together do not exhibit any geographical consistency. Despite the paraphyletic relationship between L. sericata and the two forms of L. cuprina, mtDNA appears to be useful in differentiating between these two species. However, L. cuprina subspecies, L. cuprina cuprina (Wiedemann) and L. cuprina dorsalis Robineau-Desvoidy cannot be differentiated using the 28S and cox1 genes, nor can their distinctions be assumed based on their geographic locations, especially in regions where they are found in coexistence.