Morphological and molecular diagnosis of grape leaf worm larvae Hippotion celerio L.(Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)

This study was conducted to identify the grapevine leafworm, both phenotypically using morphological characteristics of the larvae and molecularly using PCR techniques on larvae isolated from grape orchards in Al-Alam District, Salah al-Din Governorate, Iraq. The study revealed that the collected larvae were Hippotion celerio, based on morphological characteristics observed by the researcher in the laboratory. The mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (COI) gene was used for molecular identification.. The resulting amplification base pairs identified the insect as Hippotion celerio, with a 99.81% similarity to the sample identified in the United States. The record is registered under the global number KP720072.1. While collecting larvae from orchards, the researcher noticed that some larvae had been preyed upon by the red wasp Vespa orientalis L. Predation of the insect larvae by adult red wasps Vespa orientalis L. was observed with remarkable intensity. To date, no scientific sources have reported any association between these species, making this A new record of predation on grapevine leafworm larvae