DNA barcoding of fogged caterpillars in Peru: A novel approach for unveiling host-plant relationships of tropical moths (Insecta, Lepidoptera)

Abstract

The present study aimed to perform molecular identification of lepidopteran larvae from canopy fogging including gut-content analyses. A total of 130 lepidopteran larvae were selected from 37 fogging samples at the Panguana station, district Yuyapichis, province Puerto Inca, department Huá nuco, Peru. Target trees were pre-identified and subsequently submitted to molecular confirmation of identity with three markers (rbcL, psbA and trnL-F). The COI gene of 119 lepidopteran larvae was successfully sequenced and found to belong to 92 species: Comparison of DNA barcodes with the reference database of adult moths resulted in 65 (55%) matches at species level, 32 (27%) at genus level, 19 (16%) at subfamily or family level, three just to order level. Three larvae could not be assigned to a family. For these larvae the fogged target tree now suggests a potential host-plant relationship. Molecular gut content analysis, based on High-Throughput-Sequencing was successfully tested for ten larvae corroborating feeding on the target plant in some cases but elucidating several other cases of potential 'alternative feeding'. We propose a larger-scale approach using this rapid and efficient method including molecular gut-content analyses for comprehensively testing the ratio of 'alternative feeders' and pitfalls caused by collateral fogging of larvae from neighboring trees. OPEN ACCESSCitation: Hausmann A, Diller J, Moriniere J, Höcherl A, Floren A, Haszprunar G (2020) DNA barcoding of fogged caterpillars in Peru: A novel approach for unveiling host-plant relationships of tropical moths (Insecta, Lepidoptera). PLoS ONE 15(1): e0224188. https://doi.org/10.

On the natural history of Cosmophyga cortesi Vargas (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), a little-known geometrid moth of the Atacama Desert

“…The integration of field work with DNA barcoding is useful to disentangle lepidopteran interactions in nature (Hausmann et al, 2020). In the present study, field work shed the first light on the host plant use by C. cortesi, while comparison of newly generated DNA barcodes with previously published ones confirmed the use of their larvae as prey.…”

Cryptic Diversity in the Monotypic Neotropical Micromoth Genus Angelabella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) in the Peru-Chile Desert

“…The divergence between haplotypes of Angelabella from different spatial genetic clusters (3.6–8.3% K2P) is either remarkably higher than [ 5 ] or near [ 6 , 12 ] those recorded between morphologically cryptic species of two other genera of Gracillariidae. Similar levels of divergence have been interpreted to represent putative heterospecific lineages in the absence of morphological evidence [ 12 , 17 , 58 ]. Despite the absence of obvious morphological differentiation between samples of Angelabella , the deep divergence between haplotypes of different spatial clusters, their reciprocal monophyly indicated by the phylogenetic analysis and the highly consistent results of the four species delimitation analyses suggest heterospecific status for the geographically isolated lineages analyzed.…”

“…DNA barcodes [8] are widely recognized as helpful complementary tools in taxonomic identification of Lepidoptera [9][10][11], including Gracillariidae [12][13][14][15]. Their use is especially adequate to identify immature stages [16,17] and to detect putative new species [6,18].…”

Illuminating arthropod diversity in a tropical forest: Assessing biodiversity by automatic light trapping and DNA metabarcoding

“…This suggests that repeated sampling using metabarcoding would capture the diversity detected by the Program as well as additional species that may previously have been overlooked. As mentioned above, light trapping is an ideal sampling method for nocturnal moths, which include some of the best studied groups in the region (Hausmann et al., 2020; Janzen & Hallwachs, 2016; Murillo‐Ramos et al., 2019). If we consider Geometridae, the Arthropod Program has recorded 230 BINs on BCI while metabarcoding detected 29 additional BINs.…”