First molecular record of Hydrotaea ignava and H. leucostoma (Diptera: Muscidae) associated with palm rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes elegans) larvae in Iraq

Haidar Ali Reda Al-Ezzi, Abdullah Abdul Kareem Hassan, Tareq Saadi Abbas Al-Hayali, Sarah Sabhan Abdalrahman Abdalwahab, Waleed Khalid Ahmed

Abstract


The palm rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes elegans Prell (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), is a major pest of date palm in the Middle East. During laboratory rearing of O. elegans larvae collected from infested date palms in Salah al-Din Governorate, Iraq, muscid flies emerged from deteriorated beetle larvae, indicating a potential ecological association. Morphological examination and molecular characterization based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences identified the emerged flies as Hydrotaea ignava and H. leucostoma. Sequence analysis revealed 100% identity of the Iraqi H. ignava isolate with a Turkish isolate and 100% similarity of the Iraqi H. leucostoma isolate with a Romanian reference sequence. The generated sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers PX110999.1 and PX110998.1, respectively. Occurrence data showed that H. ignava was more prevalent than H. leucostoma across the surveyed agro-ecological zones, with frequencies ranging from 36.33-44.70% and 30.14-33.03%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on COI sequences grouped Hydrotaea species into four major clades and demonstrated close genetic relationships among Iraqi, Turkish, and Polish populations of H. ignava, whereas H. leucostoma showed high genetic conservation despite geographical separation. The association of both species with decaying O. elegans larvae suggests a possible ecological role as predators, scavengers, parasitoids, or opportunistic colonizers; however, direct evidence of their trophic interactions was not obtained. This study constitutes the first record of H. ignava and H. leucostoma in Iraq and provides a basis for future investigations into their ecological significance and potential role in the natural regulation of O. elegans populations.


Keywords


Hydrotaea ignava, Hydrotaea leucostoma, Oryctes elegans, DNA barcoding (COI), Phylogenetic analysis

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.33804/pp.010.03.6091

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