DNA Barcodes for the Northern European Tachinid Flies (Diptera: Tachinidae)

Abstract

This data release provides COI barcodes for 366 species of parasitic flies (Diptera: Tachinidae), enabling the DNA based identification of the majority of northern European species and a large proportion of Palearctic genera, regardless of the developmental stage. The data will provide a tool for taxonomists and ecologists studying this ecologically important but challenging parasitoid family. A comparison of minimum distances between the nearest neighbors revealed the mean divergence of 5.52% that is approximately the same as observed earlier with comparable sampling in Lepidoptera, but clearly less than in Coleoptera. Full barcode-sharing was observed between 13 species pairs or triplets, equaling to 7.36% of all species. Delimitation based on Barcode Index Number (BIN) system was compared with traditional classification of species and interesting cases of possible species oversplits and cryptic diversity are discussed. Overall, DNA barcodes are effective in separating tachinid species and provide novel insight into the taxonomy of several genera.

A DNA barcode library for 5,200 German flies and midges (Insecta: Diptera) and its implications for metabarcoding‐based biomonitoring

“…Our results strongly support the conclusion that DNA barcoding will enable the discovery and identification of most dipteran taxa. Some cases of low interspecific variation were observed in the Syrphidae, Tachinidae and Calliphoridae where additional markers may be needed for species identification (Haarto & Ståhls, ; Nelson et al, ; Pohjoismäki et al, ; Whitworth et al, ). However, in most cases, there was congruence between BINs and species defined by traditional morphological methods, supporting the use of DNA barcoding as a species identification tool for Diptera.…”

“…However, some genera or families throughout the insects exhibit problems with species delineation based on DNA barcodes, due to high intra-or low interspecific genetic distances (e.g., cryptic diversity, BIN sharing or the barcode gap; see Hubert & Hanner, 2015). Within the Diptera, this phenomenon has been well documented (Meier et al, 2006), at least in some families, such as calliphorid, syrphid and tachinid species (Mengual et al, 2006;Nelson et al, 2012;Pohjoismäki et al, 2016;Rojo et al, 2006;Whitworth et al, 2007), but may also occur in families of "dark taxa" as well.…”

“…In particular, wellstudied groups such as the syrphids represent a problem, because here additional genes for a clear type assignment must be consulted in many genera (Mengual, Ståhls, Vujić, & Marcos-Garcia, 2006;Rojo, Ståhls, Pérez-Bañón, & Marcos-García, 2006). Further examples of problems in species delineation due to barcode gaps, at least for some genera, are the Tachinidae and the Calliphoridae (Nelson et al, 2012;Pohjoismäki et al, 2016;Whitworth, Dawson, Magalon, & Baudry, 2007). In one of the few studies dealing with DNA barcoding in Diptera it was shown, that less than 70% of a composition of about 450 species covering 12 families of Diptera could be reliably identified by DNA barcoding, as there was wide overlap between intraand interspecific genetic variability on the COI gene (Meier, Shiyang, Vaidya, & Ng, 2006).…”

An updated checklist of Croatian Tachinidae (Diptera)

“…It also seems fair to say that the Croatian tachinid fauna can be expected to be much richer than currently known. Groot et al (2007), Predovnik & Tschorsnig (2007), Hubenov ( , 2008b, Ziegler (2010), Robertson & Shaw (2012), Stanković et al (2014), Pohjoismäki et al (2016), Zeegers (2017), and the present publication. ** Published sources provide a cumulative number of species, consisting of a former state that comprised Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo.…”

“…Croatia hosts thirteen tachinid species (mostly of the Southern type of distribution) unknown in other parts of the Balkans: Bithia proletaria, Campylocheta confusa, Chetogena micronychia, Exorista florentina, E. unicolor, Hyperaea sanguinea, Istocheta subcinerea, I. sublutescens, Meigenia simplex, Leucostoma edentatum, Peribaea discicornis, P. longirostris and Ramonda plorans; among these enumerated taxa, one species (Campylocheta confusa) is endemic to Croatia, another two (Bithia proletaria, Exorista unicolor) are otherwise known only from Italy, and another one (Istocheta sublutescens) is otherwise known only from Switzerland as far as it is known at all (Herting & Dely-Draskovits, 1993;Tschorsnig et al, 2004;Cerretti, 2010). A further seven Mediterranean and South Palaearctic-Palaeotropical species are known in the Balkans only from Croatia and Greece: Besseria zonaria, Bithia golanensis, Ceratochaetops delphinensis, Euthera fascipennis, Phryxe caudata, Plesina claripennis and Stomina calvescens Pohjoismäki et al, 2016;Zeegers, 2017;Lutovinovas et al, 2018). Howe-ver, Croatia is not a large country and the level of knowledge regarding the fauna of some countries in this region is very poor, and especially of the western peninsular countries bordering on Croatia (Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, but also Macedonia and Albania; see Tab.…”