Large geographic distance versus small DNA barcode divergence: Insights from a comparison of European to South Siberian Lepidoptera

Abstract

Spanning nearly 13,000 km, the Palearctic region provides an opportunity to examine the level of geographic coverage required for a DNA barcode reference library to be effective in identifying species with broad ranges. This study examines barcode divergences between populations of 102 species of Lepidoptera from Europe and South Siberia, sites roughly 6,000 km apart. While three-quarters of these species showed divergence between their Asian and European populations, these divergence values ranged between 0–1%, distinctly less than the distance to the Nearest-Neighbor species in all but a few cases. Our results suggest that further taxonomic studies may be required for 16 species that showed either extremely low interspecific or high intraspecific variation. For example, seven species pairs showed low or no barcode divergence, but four of these cases are likely to reflect taxonomic over-splitting while the others involve species pairs that are either young or show evidence for introgression. Conversely, some of the nine species with deep intraspecific divergence at varied spatial levels may include overlooked species. Although these 16 cases require further investigation, our overall results indicate that barcode reference libraries based on records from one locality can be very effective in identifying specimens across an extensive geographic area.

Highly variable COI haplotype diversity between three species of invasive pest fruit fly reflects remarkably incongruent demographic histories

“…Percentage-wise, the ranges for intra-and interspecific COI variation we find in our study species are similar to those found in other groups of life, such as moths, beetles, or birds, which commonly show <3% intraspecific and >2% interspecific variation (Kerr et al 2007;Rivera and Currie 2009;Pentinsaari et al 2014;Schmidt et al 2015;Huemer et al 2018). Even though the estimated total number of haplotypes between the three species varies seven-fold, the maximum intraspecific diversity is at most ~3% and all species can be identified reliably using COI.…”

“…A fundamental assumption of species-level research is that sampling specimens from across their range accurately represents intraspecific genetic diversity (Steinke et al 2009;Bergsten et al 2012;Fernandez-Triana et al 2014;Huemer et al 2018). This tenet is based on population-level processes such as genetic drift and selection, which follow the distance decay principle (Nekola and White 1999) resulting in regional differences that increase with geographic distance as the probability of gene-flow between more distant populations decreases.…”

“…Indeed, studies using various, predominantly native, taxa over large geographic ranges typically find that species with broader distributions, on average, have more intraspecific diversity than species with more restricted distributions (e.g. Lukhtanov et al 2009;Bergsten et al 2012;Huemer et al 2018). However, depending on the life-history characters and evolutionary history, intraspecific genetic diversity can be regionally heterogeneous and may vary widely between taxa (e.g.…”

Potential influence of Mesozoic and Tertiary tectonics on the evolution of European Hepialidae (Lepidoptera)

“…There is no taxonomic review of the genus other than for species in the Russian Far East (Tshistjakov 1997). DNA 20 sequence diversity indicates the possible presence of additional species in Asia (Huemer et al 2018).…”

The intraspecific structure of the Yellow-spotted ringlet Erebia manto (Denis &amp; Schiffermüller, [1775]), with special reference to the bubastis group: an integration of morphology, allozyme and mtDNA data (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae)

“…In our study, we aimed to enhance the insight in the intraspecific variation by adding a third data set, based on mtDNA, and covering all known and supposed intraspecific groups. The 658 bp segment at the 5′-P end of the COI gene (the 'DNA barcode') has proven a reliable species discriminator in animals (Hebert et al 2003;Huemer et al 2014Huemer et al , 2018. In some cases, it was useful in detecting intraspecific diversity too (Lukhtanov et al 2009;Dinca et al 2010;Pauls et al 2010).…”