Pest status, prevalence and molecular identification of Hoplopteridius lutosus anatolicus Osella & Lodos, 1979 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in saffron

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is an endangered plant species that has been cultivated in a small field in Safranbolu District of Karabük Province, Turkey. Although the existence of Hoplopteridius lutosus anatolicusOsella & Lodos, 1979 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) was known for Turkey, the present study determined its pest status and, prevalence with respect to its endangered host plant saffron in the Safranbolu District of Karabük between 2015 and 2016. Hoplopteridius lutosus anatolicuslarvae were found to harm saffron corms starting from the second half of May till the end of June with the harmful effects continuing even after harvest during storage. While the pest is not normally found in the newly established saffron fields, H. lutosus anatolicus establishes in these fields with a prevalence rate of 4-35% in subsequent years. In addition, CO1 sequences for the molecular identification were performed for quick and reliable identification in future studies and these novel sequences for the pest were uploaded to BOLD and GenBank databases