What happens to the traditional taxonomy when a well-known tropical saturniid moth fauna is DNA barcoded?

Abstract

Biodiversity of tropical Saturniidae, as measured through traditionally described and catalogued species, strongly risks pooling cryptic species under one name. We examined the DNA barcodes, morphology, habitus and ecology of 32 ‘well known’ species of dry forest saturniid moths from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG) in north-western Costa Rica and found that they contain as many as 49 biological entities that are probably separate species. The most prominent splitting of traditional species – Eacles imperialis, Automeris zugana, Automeris tridens, Othorene verana, Hylesia dalina, Dirphia avia, Syssphinx molina, Syssphinx colla, and Syssphinx quadrilineata – is where one species was believed to breed in dry forest and rain forest, but is found to be two biological entities variously distinguishable by DNA barcodes and morphology, habitus, and/or microecological distribution. This implies that ‘standard’ biological information about each traditional species may be an unconscious mix of interspecific information, and begs renewed DNA barcoding, closer attention to so-called intraspecific variation, and increased museum collection and curation of specimens from more individual and ecologically characterised sites – as well as eventually more species descriptions. Simultaneously, this inclusion of sibling species as individual entities in biodiversity studies, rather than pooled under one traditional name, reduces the degree of ecological and evolutionary generalisation perceived by the observer.

The spatial and temporal distributions of arthropods in forest canopies: uniting disparate patterns with hypotheses for specialisation

“…Diet-mixing is also predicted under the physiological-efficiency hypothesis to reduce the build up of defensive chemicals and counteract nutritional deficiencies that may arise from single-host diets (Held & Potter, 2004;Franzke et al, 2010;Karban et al, 2010). However, DNA barcoding has shown that some widespread, generalist species are actually complexes of multiple closely related host-specific species (Hebert et al, 2004;Janzen et al, 2009Janzen et al, , 2012Valentini, Pompanon & Taberlet, 2009; but see Hulcr et al, 2007a). It therefore may be that generalists are rarer than is currently appreciated.…”

The Saturniidae of Barro Colorado Island, Panama: A model taxon for studying the long‐term effects of climate change?

“…Saturniid caterpillars tend to be relatively polyphagous and to prefer old, tough, tannin‐rich leaves (Bernays & Janzen, ). In contrast to other moth families such as Crambidae, Erebidae, or Geometridae, local species pools of Saturniidae are rather restricted, usually with <100 species in the Neotropics (Janzen et al., ; Lamarre et al., ; Lamas, ). The relatively low local species richness of Saturniidae facilitates the compilation of exhaustive lists for comparative ecological studies and long‐term monitoring.…”

Review of Apanteles sensu stricto (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from Area de Conservación Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, with keys to all described species from Mesoamerica

“…This has provided an additional layer of data to study the ACG species of caterpillars, parasitoids, and food plants (e.g., Smith et al 2006, 2007, 2008; Whitfield et al 2012; Janzen et al 2011, 2012). …”