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Inferring larval taxonomy and morphology in Maladera species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericini) using DNA taxonomy tools
Author(s) -
ŠÍPEK PETR,
AHRENS DIRK
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
systematic entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.552
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1365-3113
pISSN - 0307-6970
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3113.2011.00582.x
Subject(s) - biology , scarabaeidae , genbank , taxonomy (biology) , dna barcoding , larva , taxon , instar , zoology , phylogenetics , molecular taxonomy , evolutionary biology , ecology , genetics , gene
Based on a comparative molecular study of scarab chafers we matched adult and larval instars to identify and describe unknown larvae of Sericini. Here, we use for the first time a two‐fold DNA taxonomy approach based on: (i) mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers of a local sample (from Nepal) of adults and larvae, in combination with character and tree‐based species delimitation methods; and (ii) a global search of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I ( cox1 ) sequences with GenBank data. In the latter analysis we used a sequence of a specimen that resulted in the first analysis conspecific with the larvae of Maladera affinis (Blanchard) as the query sequence in GenBank, and checked in a minimum evolution tree whether larva–adult matches from the local approach were altered through interference with other taxa of the worldwide database. Both approaches unambiguously identified the unknown larvae as belonging to M. affinis and Maladera cardoni (Brenske). Based on this robust framework of taxonomic identification we could associate names to the larval morphology of the third larval instar of these two Nepalese Maladera species, which are both known for their economical importance in agriculture. They are described here in detail and are compared with known related taxa, especially with Maladera castanea (Arrow).