DNA barcoding of the leaf-miner flies (Diptera, Agromyzidae) of Mitaraka, French Guiana

Abstract

Species level identification of Agromyzidae based on morphology is often challenging due to their small size and morphological homogeneity. DNA barcoding has been used regularly to assist with the identification of economically important species of Agromyzidae, but rarely as a tool for species delineation or identification in biodiversity surveys. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether DNA barcoding and the BIN (Barcoding Index) system could assist with species identification, species delineation, male/ female association, and diversity assessment of Agromyzidae material previously determined to morphospecies from Mitaraka, French Guiana. Amplification success was low, with sequences over 400 bp recovered for only 24 (48%) of the selected specimens. Sequences assigned to 17 morphospecies formed 16 distinct branches or clusters separated by very high (minimum of 10%) sequence divergence. Following the reassessment and subsequent reassignment of one specimen, congruence between morphology and DNA barcodes was high with a single instance of two morphospecies sharing identical sequences. While DNA barcoding did not assist with identification (none of our sequences matched those of named taxa in BOLD or GenBank), it did provide support for most of our morphospecies concepts, including male/female associations. The BIN system also provided access to information about the distribution and habitat preferences of several taxa. We conclude that DNA barcoding was a useful approach to study the species diversity of our samples but that much work remains to be done before it can be used as an identification tool for the Agromyzidae fauna of Mitaraka and the rest of the Neotropical region.