DNA Barcoding of Lepidoptera Species from the Maltese Islands: New and Additional Records, with an Insight into Endemic Diversity

Abstract

This work presents the first outcomes resulting from a DNA barcode reference library of lepidopteran species from Malta. The library presented here was constructed from the specimens collected between 2015 and 2019 and covers the genetic barcodes of 146 species (ca. 25% of lepidopterous Maltese fauna), including four newly recorded Lepidoptera species from the Maltese islands: Apatema baixerasi, Bostra dipectinialis, Oiketicoides lutea, and Phereoeca praecox. The DNA reference barcode library constructed during this study was analyzed in conjunction with publicly available DNA barcodes and used to assess the ability of the local DNA barcodes to discriminate species. Results showed that each species occupies a different BOLD BIN; therefore, DNA barcoding was able to discriminate between the studied species. Our data led to the formation of 12 new BOLD BINs—that is, OTUs that were identified during this work—while nearly 46% of the barcodes generated during this study were never recorded on conspecifics, further indicating the uniqueness of genetic diversity on these central Mediterranean islands. The outcomes of this study highlight the integrative taxonomic approach, where molecular taxonomy plays an important role for biodiversity investigation in its entirety.

The InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: DNA barcodes of Portuguese moths

“…Multiple BINs are relatively frequent in Lepidoptera species with higher percentages found in studies with higher number of specimens per species and with larger geographic scope. For example, Huemer et al (2020) and Dincă et al (2021) found that 20% of species of European Gelechiidae and 12.2% species of European butterflies exhibit deep splits, while studies of more limited geographical scope found 6% of species in Bavarian Geometrids ( Hausmann et al 2011 ) or even no deep splits in the case of Maltese islands Vella et al (2022) . The dataset includes 10 shared BINs between taxa possibly in need of taxonomical revision:…”

Première mention française d’Apatema baixerasi Vives, 2001, et quelques autres observations remarquables de Lépidoptères en Corse (Lepidoptera)

“…Il s'agit de la première mention française pour Apatema baixerasi, espèce décrite de la province de Valencia en Espagne (Vives Moreno, 2001), observée depuis également en Andalousie, mais aussi en Italie (Sardaigne, Sicile, nord du pays) et à Malte (Vella et al, 2022). La biologie de cette espèce est encore méconnue, comme pour de nombreuses autres espèces du genre Apatema Walsingham, 1900 (Falck et al, 2021).…”

The First Report of Pennella (Crustacea: Copepoda) Infesting Stenella coeruleoalba Stranded in Malta: Morphological and Genetic Analyses

“…To address these complexities, the use of standard molecular genetic techniques such as DNA barcoding [10] has become invaluable. Utilizing systems such as BOLD [11], which algorithmically clusters different operational taxonomic units (OTUs) into BIN clusters based on DNA sequences [12], allows for improvements in taxonomic identification, revisions, and biodiversity assessments [13][14][15]. This approach contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the phylogenetic relationships between different species of Pennella, while assisting in better delimitation of species [5,7,16] at all life stages, allowing for improved knowledge of their complex life history.…”