DNA barcoding the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Chile: species discovery in a reasonably well known bee fauna with the description of a new species ofLonchopria(Colletidae)

Abstract

We compare the diversity of bees in the Chilean fauna as understood from traditional taxonomy-based catalogues with that currently known from DNA barcodes using the BIN system informed by ongoing morphology-based taxonomic research. While DNA barcode surveys of the Chilean bee fauna remain incomplete, it is clear that new species can readily be distinguished using this method and that morphological differentiation of distinct barcode clusters is sometimes very easy. We assess the situation in two genera in some detail. In Lonchopria Vachal one "species" is readily separable into two BINs that are easily differentiated based upon male mandibular and genitalic morphology (characters generally used in this group) as well as female hair patterns. Consequently, we describe Lonchopria (Lonchopria) heberti Packer and Ruz, new species. For Liphanthus Reed, a large number of new species has been detected using DNA barcoding and considerable additional traditional morphological work will be required to describe them. When we add the number of BINs (whether identified to named species or not) to the number of Chilean bee species that we know have not been barcoded (both described and new species under study in our laboratories) we conclude that the bee fauna of Chile is substantially greater than the 436 species currently known. Spanish language abstract available as supplementary data .

The diversification of neopasiphaeine bees during the Cenozoic (Hymenoptera: Colletidae)

“…Even if COI conveys phylogenetic signal limited to recent divergences when analysed in isolation, when used in combination with nuclear genes it can contribute to the placement of taxa among older divergences (Trunz, Packer, Vieu, Arrigo, & Praz, ). We amplified the “barcode region” of COI, which therefore matches the fragment already generated for thousands of individual bees (Packer & Ruz, ) and will be useful to expand taxon sampling in colletid studies in the future, as done by Trunz et al ().…”

“…The number of species in each clade considered for the analyses (i.e., the 59 genera or groups of species assumed to be monophyletic or least inclusive suprageneric groups about which monophyly could be assumed shown in Supporting information Figure ) was based on the respective number of described species, as indicated in the available catalogues for the neotropical and Australasian bee faunas (Almeida, ; Moure, Graf, & Urban, ) complemented by more recent publications (Batley & Houston, ; Gonzalez & Florez, ; Maynard, ; Almeida & Gibran, ; Packer & Ruz, ). The shape of the LTT plot is affected by the level of taxon sampling in relation to all extant lineages of the investigated clade.…”

A Molecular Method for the Identification of Honey Bee Subspecies Used by Beekeepers in Russia

“…The COX1 gene is commonly used for species identification (including bees) [ 35 , 36 ]. However, we found that COX1 sequences also differ in honey bee subspecies and exhibit stable SNPs typical for individual subspecies.…”

<i>Halictus hedini hedini</i> (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) newly recorded from Japan, revealed by DNA barcoding and morphology

“…DNA barcoding has contributed to the taxonomic study of bees, such as sex associations, discovery of new or cryptic species, and synonymies, etc. (Droege et al, 2010;Gibbs, 2009aGibbs, , 2009bMonckton, 2016;Packer & Ruz, 2017;Sheffield et al, 2009). DNA barcode data for the Japanese…”