A DNA barcode library for ground beetles (Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae) of Germany: The genus Bembidion Latreille, 1802 and allied taxa.

Jerome Moriniere,Michael J Raupach,Karsten Hannig,Lars Hendrich

doi:10.3897/zookeys.592.8316

Abstract

As molecular identification method, DNA barcoding based on partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) sequences has been proven to be a useful tool for species determination in many insect taxa including ground beetles. In this study we tested the effectiveness of DNA barcodes to discriminate species of the ground beetle genus Bembidion and some closely related taxa of Germany. DNA barcodes were obtained from 819 individuals and 78 species, including sequences from previous studies as well as more than 300 new generated DNA barcodes. We found a 1:1 correspondence between BIN and traditionally recognized species for 69 species (89%). Low interspecific distances with maximum pairwise K2P values below 2.2% were found for three species pairs, including two species pairs with haplotype sharing (Bembidion atrocaeruleum/Bembidion varicolor and Bembidion guttula/Bembidion mannerheimii). In contrast to this, deep intraspecific sequence divergences with distinct lineages were revealed for two species (Bembidion geniculatum/Ocys harpaloides). Our study emphasizes the use of DNA barcodes for the identification of the analyzed ground beetles species and represents an important step in building-up a comprehensive barcode library for the Carabidae in Germany and Central Europe as well.

Highlights

The Carabidae is a large cosmopolitan family of the Coleoptera, with an estimated number of 40,000 species world-wide, about 2,700 in Europe and 567 in Germany (Arnett et al 2000, Arndt et al 2005, Luff 2007, Trautner et al 2014)
In this study we present as part of the German Barcode of Life project a comprehensive DNA barcode library of a variety of Central European species of the genus Bembidion and associated taxa
Fragment lengths of the analyzed DNA barcode fragments ranged from 352 to 657 bp. As it is typically known for arthropods, our sequence data revealed a high AT-content for the DNA barcode region: the mean sequence compositions were A=16.6%, C=15.9%, G=29.8% and T=37.7%

Summary

Introduction

The Carabidae (ground beetles) is a large cosmopolitan family of the Coleoptera, with an estimated number of 40,000 species world-wide, about 2,700 in Europe and 567 in Germany (Arnett et al 2000, Arndt et al 2005, Luff 2007, Trautner et al 2014). Their body is usually rather flattened, especially in species living in crevices in soil such as some species of Bembidion Latreille, 1802, Pterostichus Bonelli, 1810, and Polistichus Bonelli, 1810, or under bark as in some Dromius Bonelli, 1810 species (Luff 2007). Carabid assemblages can be used as highly valuable bioindicators for characterizing disturbances in various habitats such as forests, meadows or fens (Lövei and Sunderland 1996, Rainio and Niemelä 2003, Pearce and Venier 2004, Koivula 2011, Kotze et al 2011)

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