Integration of morphological and molecular taxonomic characters for identification of Odontoponera denticulata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae) with the description of the antennal sensilla

Abstract

Integration of morphological and molecular approaches is nowadays given importance to identify a particular species. So in our study, we considered both approaches to identify the controversial ant species, Odontoponera denticulata. For morphological analysis, we considered morphological characters and morphometric measurements. In the molecular approach, we considered DNA barcoding from the COI gene. A nucleotide sequence of 641 base pairs was obtained which showed 86.08% similarity with Odontoponera transversa. No COI gene sequence of O. denticulata is found to exist in Genbank. But morphological characters supported the identity of the species as O. denticulata. Therefore, the sequence obtained was submitted to NCBI Genbank (accession number MN380424). From the study, it can be inferred that the combination of both the morphological and molecular approaches is helpful to identify a species, here in this case the Ponerine ant, O. denticulata. As there is no report on antennal sensilla of O. denticulata, therefore we also investigated the morphology and distribution of antennal sensilla of O. denticulata. Nine different types of antennal sensilla are recorded including Böhm Bristles (BB1, BB2), Sensilla Trichodea (ST1, ST2), Sensilla Chaetica (SCh), Sensilla Basiconica (SB1, SB2), Sensilla Coeloconica (SCo) and Sensilla Campaniformia (SCa). ST1 is the most abundant antennal sensilla found in O. denticulata.