Nowadays, with increasing trend of trans-boundary transportation of agricultural products and higher probability of introduction of many invasive species into new areas, fast and precise species diagnosis is of great significance particularly at the port of entry, where morphological identification often requires adult insect specimens especially with specialist insects. The cucumber fruit fly, Dacus ciliatus Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae), ranks as one of the most destructive agricultural pests attacking mainly fruits of Cucurbitaceae. This pest is also widespread and highly invasive; thus, it is a high priority for pest detection and quarantine programs. Although cucumber fruit fly adults can usually be identified and distinguished from the other species by morphological keys, it is often difficult or impossible to distinguish this species from the other tephritids that share host plants by using material from other stages of development. In such situations, using a quick and robust alternative species diagnostic tool would be valuable. In this study, we assessed a technique combining loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) with PCR (PCR-LAMP) for the rapid detection and discrimination of cucumber fruit fly DNA from some other common tephritid species attacking Cucurbitaceae, using material from different stages of development. The described method was species-specific and sensitive and provided a rapid diagnostic tool to detect D. ciliaus even by non-experts.
Keywords: Cucurbitaceae; Dacus ciliatus; PCR-LAMP; rapid molecular diagnostic tool; tephritid fruit fly.