First Record of the Two Insects Megaselia halterata and Lycoriella ingenua that Attack Some Edible Mushrooms in Iraq and Assessing the Damage Caused by them

Abstract

Hassan, A.A. and A.R.M. Al-Qaissi. 2022. First Record of the Two Insects Megaselia halterata and Lycoriella ingenua that Attack Some Edible Mushrooms in Iraq and Assessing the Damage Caused by them. Arab Journal of Plant Protection, 40(3): 209-214. https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-40.3.209214 Invading insects were found in the fruiting bodies of the edible mushrooms Agaricus bisporus and Pleurotus spp. at the mushroom farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tikrit, through the presence of holes, necrosis and tunnels in the mushroom fruits. Infested fruiting bodies containing larvae were collected and insects were reared in the laboratory for the purpose of diagnosis. The phenotypic diagnosis was confirmed by molecular diagnosis based on the nucleotide sequence of the cytochrome oxidase C subunit 1 gene (in mitochondria). The two insects were identified as Megaselia halterata and Lycoriella ingenua and were registered in the NCBI database under the accession numbers MZ021516.1 and MZ021517.1, respectively. This is the first record of these two species in Iraq. The study also included a description of the damage caused by these two insects on the fruiting bodies of the mushrooms A. bisporus and Pleurotus spp. Keywords: Molecular identification, mushroom fly, Agaricus bisporus, Pleurotus spp