DNA barcoding of Austrian snow scorpionflies (Mecoptera, Boreidae) reveals potential cryptic diversity in Boreus westwoodi
Background Snow scorpionflies (genus Boreus) belong to a family of Mecoptera, Boreidae, that has been vastly neglected by entomological researchers due to their shift in seasonality to the winter months. Their activity during this time is regarded as a strategy for predator avoidance and regular sig...
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PeerJ Inc.
2021-05-01
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| author | Lukas Zangl Elisabeth Glatzhofer Raphael Schmid Susanne Randolf Stephan Koblmüller |
| author_facet | Lukas Zangl Elisabeth Glatzhofer Raphael Schmid Susanne Randolf Stephan Koblmüller |
| author_sort | Lukas Zangl |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Snow scorpionflies (genus Boreus) belong to a family of Mecoptera, Boreidae, that has been vastly neglected by entomological researchers due to their shift in seasonality to the winter months. Their activity during this time is regarded as a strategy for predator avoidance and regular sightings on snow fields suggest that this also facilitates dispersal. However, many aspects about snow scorpionflies, especially systematics, taxonomy, distribution of species, phylogenetics and phylogeography have remained fairly unexplored until today. In this study, we fill some of these gaps by generating a reference DNA barcode database for Austrian snow scorpionflies in the frame of the Austrian Barcode of Life initiative and by characterising morphological diversity in the study region. Methods Initial species assignment of all 67 specimens was based on male morphological characters previously reported to differ between Boreus species and, for females, the shape of the ovipositor. DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was carried out for all 67 samples and served as a basis for BIN assignment, genetic distance calculations, as well as alternative species delimitation analyses (ABGD, GMYC, bGMYC, bPTP) and a statistical parsimony network to infer phylogenetic relationships among individual samples/sampling sites. Results Morphological investigations suggested the presence of both Boreus hyemalis and Boreus westwoodi in Austria. DNA barcoding also separated the two species, but resulted in several divergent clades, the paraphyly of B. westwoodi in Austria, and high levels of phylogeographic structure on a small geographic scale. Even though the different molecular species delimitation methods disagreed on the exact number of species, they unequivocally suggested the presence of more than the traditionally recognized two Boreus species in Austria, thus indicating potential cryptic species within the genus Boreus in general and especially in B. westwoodi. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:06:13Z |
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| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:06:13Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-2809872ac8e6457db4a50126bedbc5082023-12-02T23:48:33ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592021-05-019e1142410.7717/peerj.11424DNA barcoding of Austrian snow scorpionflies (Mecoptera, Boreidae) reveals potential cryptic diversity in Boreus westwoodiLukas Zangl0Elisabeth Glatzhofer1Raphael Schmid2Susanne Randolf3Stephan Koblmüller4Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Graz, Styria, AustriaInstitute of Biology, University of Graz, Graz, Styria, AustriaInstitute of Biology, University of Graz, Graz, Styria, AustriaNatural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Biology, University of Graz, Graz, Styria, AustriaBackground Snow scorpionflies (genus Boreus) belong to a family of Mecoptera, Boreidae, that has been vastly neglected by entomological researchers due to their shift in seasonality to the winter months. Their activity during this time is regarded as a strategy for predator avoidance and regular sightings on snow fields suggest that this also facilitates dispersal. However, many aspects about snow scorpionflies, especially systematics, taxonomy, distribution of species, phylogenetics and phylogeography have remained fairly unexplored until today. In this study, we fill some of these gaps by generating a reference DNA barcode database for Austrian snow scorpionflies in the frame of the Austrian Barcode of Life initiative and by characterising morphological diversity in the study region. Methods Initial species assignment of all 67 specimens was based on male morphological characters previously reported to differ between Boreus species and, for females, the shape of the ovipositor. DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was carried out for all 67 samples and served as a basis for BIN assignment, genetic distance calculations, as well as alternative species delimitation analyses (ABGD, GMYC, bGMYC, bPTP) and a statistical parsimony network to infer phylogenetic relationships among individual samples/sampling sites. Results Morphological investigations suggested the presence of both Boreus hyemalis and Boreus westwoodi in Austria. DNA barcoding also separated the two species, but resulted in several divergent clades, the paraphyly of B. westwoodi in Austria, and high levels of phylogeographic structure on a small geographic scale. Even though the different molecular species delimitation methods disagreed on the exact number of species, they unequivocally suggested the presence of more than the traditionally recognized two Boreus species in Austria, thus indicating potential cryptic species within the genus Boreus in general and especially in B. westwoodi.https://peerj.com/articles/11424.pdfDNA barcodingEntomologyBoreidaeMorphologySpecies delimiation |
| spellingShingle | Lukas Zangl Elisabeth Glatzhofer Raphael Schmid Susanne Randolf Stephan Koblmüller DNA barcoding of Austrian snow scorpionflies (Mecoptera, Boreidae) reveals potential cryptic diversity in Boreus westwoodi PeerJ DNA barcoding Entomology Boreidae Morphology Species delimiation |
| title | DNA barcoding of Austrian snow scorpionflies (Mecoptera, Boreidae) reveals potential cryptic diversity in Boreus westwoodi |
| title_full | DNA barcoding of Austrian snow scorpionflies (Mecoptera, Boreidae) reveals potential cryptic diversity in Boreus westwoodi |
| title_fullStr | DNA barcoding of Austrian snow scorpionflies (Mecoptera, Boreidae) reveals potential cryptic diversity in Boreus westwoodi |
| title_full_unstemmed | DNA barcoding of Austrian snow scorpionflies (Mecoptera, Boreidae) reveals potential cryptic diversity in Boreus westwoodi |
| title_short | DNA barcoding of Austrian snow scorpionflies (Mecoptera, Boreidae) reveals potential cryptic diversity in Boreus westwoodi |
| title_sort | dna barcoding of austrian snow scorpionflies mecoptera boreidae reveals potential cryptic diversity in boreus westwoodi |
| topic | DNA barcoding Entomology Boreidae Morphology Species delimiation |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/11424.pdf |
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