Morphological and molecular characterization of Oestromyia leporina (Pallas, 1778) (Diptera: Hypodermatinae) from wild plateau pikas(Ochotona curzoniae) in Qinghai province, China

• We investigate ultrastructure of the third-stage larvae of Oestromyia leporina.
• The coding regions of 25 COI sequences of O. leporina aredeposited in the GenBank database.
• The rich genetic diversity of O. leporina is firstly revealed in Qinghai province, China.

The objective of this article was to investigate the morphological and molecular characterization of Oestromyia leporina (Pallas, 1778) from wild plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) in Qinghai province, China. The third-stage larvae of O. leporina were examined by scanning electron microscopy revealing morphology characteristics of the spines on the cephalic, the thoracic segments, the abdominal segments and the spiracular plates. The coding regions of 25 cytochrome oxidase I (COI) genes of O. leporina were investigated. Eighty-one variable sites and 21 haplotypes were identified and the nucleotide and haplotype diversities were 0.04456 and 0.9767, respectively, indicating a rich genetic diversity in O. leporina. Phylogenetic analysis utilizing sequences of COI revealed two distinct lineages. These findings revealed ultrastructure and molecular characterization among the O. leporina from plateau pikas in Qinghai province, China and had implications for studying morphological identification, molecular epidemiology and population genetics of O. leporina.

Scanning electron micrograph of the anterior part of third-stage larvae of Oestromyia leporina are typical flat and round thorns; the posterior spiracular plates are flat and teeth-like.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide