Determination of Zygaenidae (Lepidoptera) species by morphological and molecular methods in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey

Morphological identification of the majority of Zygaenidae species in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey was undertaken and a phylogenetic tree of these species was generated. Sampling was performed between May and September in 2017 and 2018 in Adana, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Mersin and Osmaniye Provinces. This area is a zoogeographical junction between central Anatolia and the Levant. The species were collected by sweep net and visual control methods. Thirteen Zygaenidae species identified: Theresimima ampellophaga (Bayle-Barelle, 1808), Adscita (Adscita) obscura (Zeller, 1847), Jordanita (Tremewania) notata (Zeller, 1847), Jordanita (Praviela) anatolica (Naufock, 1929), Jordanita (Solaniterna) subsolana (Staudinger, 1862) (Procridinae), Zygaena (Mesembrynus) diaphana Staudinger, 1887, Zygaena (Mesembrynus) graslini Lederer, 1855, Zygaena (Mesembrynus) punctum Ochsenheimer, 1808, Zyganea (Agrumenia) olivieri Boisduval, 1828, Zygaena (Agrumenia) carniolica (Scopoli, 1763), Zygaena (Agrumenia) viciae (Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775), Zygaena (Agrumenia) loti (Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775) and Zygaena (Zygaena) filipendulae (L., 1758). Macherey-Nagel NucleoSpin kit was used for DNA extraction and PCR was performed with LCO1490/HCO2198 primer pair for the mtCOI gene region. This analysis effectively separated these genera and species in the phylogenic tree, and these data supported the morphological identification.