DNA Barcoding of an Assembly of Montane Andean Butterflies (Satyrinae): Geographical Scale and Identification Performance

Abstract

DNA barcoding is a technique used primarily for the documentation and identification of biological diversity based on mitochondrial DNA sequences. Butterflies have received particular attention in DNA barcoding studies, although varied performance may be obtained due to different scales of geographic sampling and speciation processes in various groups. The montane Andean Satyrinae constitutes a challenging study group for taxonomy. The group displays high richness, with more of 550 species, and remarkable morphological similarity among taxa, which renders their identification difficult. In the present study, we evaluated the effectiveness of DNA barcodes in the identification of montane Andean satyrines and the effect of increased geographical scale of sampling on identification performance. Mitochondrial sequences were obtained from 104 specimens of 39 species and 16 genera, collected in a forest remnant in the northwest Andes. DNA barcoding has proved to be a useful tool for the identification of the specimens, with a well-defined gap and producing clusters with unambiguous identifications for all the morphospecies in the study area. The expansion of the geographical scale with published data increased genetic distances within species and reduced those among species, but did not generally reduce the success of specimen identification. Only in Forsterinaria rustica (Butler, 1868), a taxon with high intraspecific variation, the barcode gap was lost and low support for monophyly was obtained. Likewise, expanded sampling resulted in a substantial increase in the intraspecific distance in Morpho sulkowskyi (Kollar, 1850); Panyapedaliodes drymaea (Hewitson, 1858); Lymanopoda obsoleta (Westwood, 1851); and Lymanopoda labda Hewitson, 1861; but for these species, the barcode gap was maintained. These divergent lineages are nonetheless worth a detailed study of external and genitalic morphology variation, as well as ecological features, in order to determine the potential existence of cryptic species. Even including these cases, DNA barcoding performance in specimen identification was 100% successful based on monophyly, an unexpected result in such a taxonomically complicated group.

Barcoding the butterflies of southern South America: Species delimitation efficacy, cryptic diversity and geographic patterns of divergence

“…Consequently, the barcode gap was present in all but four of the species represented by two or more specimens (see below). These levels of intra- and interspecific variation are similar to those reported in earlier barcoding studies on Lepidoptera [ 25 – 27 , 29 , 66 , 67 ]. Intraspecific variation could not be assessed for 27% of the species in our database which were represented by a single individual.…”

Discovery of a remarkable new species of Lymanopoda (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) and considerations of its phylogenetic position: An integrative taxonomic approach

“…L. caeruleata and L. caucana are allopatric species, morphologically easily separable by their predominantly blue (L. caeruleata) and brown (L. caucana) wing colour patterns and genital characters, so their separate specifi c status is strongly supported. Our results confi rm that DNA barcoding is a highly effi cient method for identifying species in the subfamily Satyrinae, as pointed out in another recent study on high Andean butterfl ies (Marín et al, 2017).…”

Island biogeography in continental areas: inferring dispersal based on distributional patterns of Pronophilina butterflies (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) in the north Andean massifs

“…Possibly, the Satyrini underwent a quick diversification in a considerably short span of time, since virtually all the subtribes of the Satyrini, including Pronophilina, appeared during the Oligocene, between 32-24 mya (Peña et al, 2011). Otherwise, DNA sequences comparative analysis coupled with molecular clocks can be used as another tool for the setting of timing of possible divergence and climatic disturbances (Casner & Pyrcz, 2010;Garzón-Orduña et al, 2014;Marín et al, 2017;Matos-Maraví et al, 2013;Nattier et al, 2017;Peña et al, 2011;Pyrcz et al, 2016;. For example, molecular phylogenies of the genus Lymanopoda indicate that the moment of divergence between sister-species Lymanopoda caeruleata Godman &Salving, 1880 andL.…”