Morphological identification of agricultural insects

    Morphological methods allow for the rapid and cost-effective identification of insect species. Most conventional methods require only a few seconds to correctly identify a pest species using specific morphological characteristics.

Rapid diagnosis of Aulacophora indica, A. kotoensis, and A. semifusca based on pronotal, antennal, and genital morphology.

Molecular technology for identification of agricultural insects

    DNA profiles can be applied to accurately determine insect species. The molecular technology is particularly useful for species identification of insect specimens such as eggs, larvae, and remains that are difficult to identify based on morphological features alone. DNA technologies have been developed for the identification of some quarantine pests and mass-reared natural enemies, such as tetranychid mites, bulb mites, Trichogramma wasps and green lacewings.

Eggs of mites are most commonly found on stalks and navels of imported apples.

Multiplex PCR (left) and DNA chip (right) for detection of quarantine species of mites on imported apples.