Osmanlı Arşivlerinden Mitokondriye: Doğu Çam Kese Böceğinin Hikâyesi.

There are two tested hypotheses related to past distribution of the eastern pine processionary moth, Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni, which is one of the most destructive forest pests, in the Anatolian peninsula. One of them posits that the eastern pine processionary moth expanded its range from south to north of Anatolia, and the other one posits that this range expansion occurred during the last 100 years due to heavy afforestation practices in the region. The latter hypothesis was disproved by using the information obtained from both the documents that has waited its time until today in the Ottoman archives and also notes of a German traveler and lepidopterist, Albert Kindermann, who visited Anatolia in the 19th century. According to this proof, the eastern pine processionary moth occurred in Anatolia long before the hypothesis posits. Testing the first hypothesis was conducted through genetic tools. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA revealed that the eastern pine processionary moth expanded its range from south to north, similar to most of the species in Anatolia. This finding, which looks like one of the most important characteristics of the Anatolian biogeography, is most probably a consequence of recolonization of regions that become temperate and favorable after the Last Glacial Maximum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]