Validation of the 16S rDNA and COI DNA Barcoding Technique for Rapid Molecular Identification of Stored Product Psocids (Insecta: Psocodea: Liposcelididae)

Psocids are serious storage pests, and their control is hampered by the fact that different species respond differently to insecticides used for the control of stored-product insect pests. Additionally, psocids of genus Liposcelis that are commonly associated with stored-products are difficult to identify using morphological characteristics. The goal of this study was to validate molecular identification of stored-product psocids of genus Liposcelis based on 16S rDNA and cytochrome oxidase I (COI) DNA barcoding. Unidentified liposcelids (Liposcelis_DK) imported from Denmark to China were compared with 14 population samples of seven common species (L. bostrychophila, L. brunnea, L. corrodens, L. decolor, L. entomophila, L. mendax, and L. paeta). The explored species (DK) liposcelids shared >98% sequence similarity for both the 16S rDNA and COI genes with the reference L. corrodens samples (98.32 and 98.94% for 16S rDNA and COI, respectively). A neighbor-joining tree revealed that the explored DK sample and the reference L. corrodens samples belong to the same clade. These molecular results were verified by morphological identification of DK specimens, facilitated by SEM microphotography. The DNA barcoding method and the neighbor-joining phylogenetic analyses indicated that both the 16S rDNA and COI genes were suitable for Liposcelis species identification. DNA barcoding has great potential for use in fast and accurate liposcelid identification.