First DNA-barcode for the genus Aegyptobia (Trombidiformes: Tenuipalpidae) and molecular barcodes of spider mites (Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae) from Iran

Species delimitation of phytophagous mite is a key step in pest control because members of this group are responsible for significant crop losses worldwide (Jeppson et al. 1975; Helle and Sabelis 1985; Migeon and Dorkeld 2019). Usually, researchers use morphological characters to identify species within a tetranychoid genus, including aedeagus morphology, dorsal striations, and pretarsus characters (Ehara 1956; Ehara and Gotoh 1990; Arabuli et al. 2019), but the small size of these mites (less than 0.5 mm) and the limited number of potential diagnostic characters make morphological identification difficult in some cases (Wauthy et al. 1998; Gotoh et al. 2009; Matsuda et al. 2013). Therefore, DNA barcoding techniques are used as a complimentary tool to facilitate species identification (Bennur et al. 2015). DNA barcoding supports the conventional descriptions of new mite species (the morphological approach) and helps detect cryptic species (Skoracka et al. 2012) or validate the species status within populations of mites from different hosts or from various niches (Glowska et al. 2014; Dabert et al. 2015). The mitochondrial COI gene is the most extensively sequenced gene region, and is an established DNA barcoding marker for species delimitation (Pentinsaari et al. 2016).