Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Versus GenBank Molecular Identification of a Dragonfly from the UAE in Comparison to the Morphological Identification

Abstract

Dragonflies are insects in the order Odonata. They inhabit freshwater ecosystems and are found in the UAE. To date, few checklists have been published for the local dragonflies and the used identification keys are not comprehensive of Arabia. The aim of this study was to provide a molecular identification of a dragonfly based on the mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I (COI) gene using the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database and the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) in comparison with the morphology. The insect's DNA was extracted and the PCR was performed on the target gene. The insect was identified initially as Anax imperator based on the NCBI database and as Anax parthenope based on the BOLD. However, the morphological identification was in agreement with the one produced by the BOLD. The results of this study is a demonstration of how, in some cases, the DNAbased identification does not provide a conclusive species designation and that a morphology-based identification is needed.

Using DNA Sequences and Phylogenetic Trees as Tools for Teaching Entomology to Undergraduate Students: A Simple Approach

“…By following this simple workflow (Figure 3), different exercises could be created as classroom or take-home assignments to demonstrate various levels of DNA similarity in different insect taxa at any level. One point that should be mentioned here is that students need to know that DNA-based insect identification in some cases does not lead to the right species name and consequently, it should be supplemented by morphology and this is known as integrative taxonomy [12]. Some people may consider that searching for an accession number in the GenBank using BLAST is a very simple task and does not offer much to students.…”