Molecular identification of Euproctis melania (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) in Kurdistan Region - Iraq

Oak tree is naturally grown in the world including Iraqi Kurdistan region-Erbil Governorate, especially in the natural forests. Oak leaf moth, Euproctis melania is a main insect pest of oak and larvae of this insect causing extensive damage of leaves. Currently, molecular technology has emerged as the primary approach to detect the oak leaf moth in various stages regardless of the type of specimen and their characteristics. A set of specified primers were used for amplification of the mitochondrial gene (COI) barcoding sequence. The PCR results successfully yielded 435bp of target DNA and the sequence was sent to be sequenced then blasted in NCBI. The identity of query and subject sequence was very high and recorded first time in NCBI database.