A taxonomic study of the genus Morophagoides (Lepidoptera, Tineidae) including shiitake mushroom pest from Japan

The genus Morophagoides Petersen, 1957 is distributed in the Palaearctic, Oriental (Taiwan), Nearctic and Neotropical regions, and some species are well known as pests of the Shiitake mushroom Lentinus edodes (Robinson, 1986). The larvae injure the bed log and fruit body of the mushroom, and produce a remarkable degree of damage. In Japan, four species, M. moriutii Robinson, 1986, M. ussuriensis (Caradja, 1920), M. occidentalis Osada, Yoshimatsu, Sakai & Hirowatari, 2014 and M. meridianus Osada, Yoshimatsu, Sakai & Hirowatari, 2014, are known as an important Shiitake mushroom pest (Osada et al., 2014). However, the taxonomy of the genus is still complicated and controversial. In order to develop applied methods of controlling the pests, it is necessary to identify species correctly. In the present study, in order to establish a discrimination method for providing basic information in the applied field, the taxonomy of the Japanese species of the genus Morophagoides was revised and the DNA barcording of the genus was performed. As a result, additional four new species were recognized for Japanese fauna. Although the Morophagoides species are very similar each other, each species can be identified by the genital structure and the DNA barcoding.