Morphological Characterization and Molecular Barcoding of Angoumois Grain Moth, Sitotroga cerealella in Qus, Qena Governorate, Egypt

Aboulnasr, Gehad N.; Mousa, Sara E.; Mahmoud, Mervat A. B.

doi:10.21608/eajbsa.2025.442844

Morphological Characterization and Molecular Barcoding of Angoumois Grain Moth, Sitotroga cerealella in Qus, Qena Governorate, Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Zoology and Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.

² Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut 71511, Egypt.

³ Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt

10.21608/eajbsa.2025.442844

Abstract

The Angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga cerealella, is a significant global stored grain pest and a vital factitious host for mass-rearing egg parasitoids and certain entomophagous insects in biological control laboratories. Despite its dual importance, the comprehensive characterization of S. cerealella populations is often lacking. So, the present study aimed to provide a detailed morphological and molecular identification of S. cerealella adults from Qus, Qena Governorate, Egypt. The morphological identification was performed using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), documenting features like body length, antennae, wings, and male genitalia. Males (avg. 4.27 mm) were significantly shorter than females (avg. 5.354 mm). Molecular identification involved amplifying and sequencing the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene. The resulting 636 bp COI sequence under accession number (MW452547) in GenBank. BLAST searches and phylogenetic trees analyses (maximum parsimony, minimum evolution, and neighbour joining) consistently confirmed the specimens' identity as Sitotroga cerealella, exhibiting 100% genetic identity with existing GenBank sequences. This integrated morphological and molecular profile of S. cerealella from Egypt is crucial for accurate pest identification and optimizing Trichogramma mass rearing, which is conducted on a large scale in Egypt and worldwide, thus promoting sustainable biological control strategies to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).

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