Phylogenetic and morphological determination of Wohlfahrtia magnifica (Schiner) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae), the myiasis flesh fly, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Wohlfahrtia magnifica (Schiner) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) is a common cause of traumatic myiasis in livestock in Mediterranean countries as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. The current study investigated the utility of external body genitalia and mitochondrial and ribosomal DNA characteristics for identifying this species. W. magnifica was successfully identified morphologically and molecularly based on partial sequences of three DNA fragments, mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI), 12S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), and 16S rDNA. A BLAST search for samples containing 12S and 16S rDNA sequences yielded 100 hits, with just one from W. magnifica (accession number: KU578263.1). More W. magnifica sequences were discovered for the mtCOI, including Egyptian isolates of W. magnifica cytochrome oxidase subunit I sequence (accession numbers: MN241041 and MN241043). As a result, we believe that mtCOI performed the best in terms of species identification. Phylogenetic analysis of mtCOI, 12S rDNA and 16S rDNA showed that W. magnifica identified in the current study was most closely related to W. magnifica retrieved from GenBank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]