Increase of international comparability by DNA-Barcoding

As representatives of a DNA-Barcoding-Initiative in Austria we are often asked for the value of barcoding Austrian individuals in species where DNA-Barcodes from other countries are available. The best answer is given by two papers on moths, recently published by the team around Peter Huemer at the Tiroler Landesmuseum. Some species of leafroller-moths were always regarded to have a holarctic distribution. The enhanced international comparability due to DNA-barcoding allowed experts to reveal them to be species-complexes. With Ancylis christiandiana Huemer & Wiesmair, 2016 one species could be described as new to science, based on individuals from Austria. The same is true for a species of fairy longhorn moths which was found to be a complex of 3 species. Of these, Nemophora scopolii Kozlov, Mutanen, Lee & Huemer, 2016, was likewise described from Austria.

ancylis_christiandiana02_tlm_eckelt_kleinReferences:

Gilligan, T., Huemer, P., & Wiesmair, B. (2016). Different continents, same species? Resolving the taxonomy of some Holarctic Ancylis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Zootaxa, 4178(3), 347–370.

Kozlov, M. V., Mutanen, M., Lee, K. M., & Huemer, P. (2016). Cryptic diversity in the long-horn moth Nemophora degeerella (Lepidoptera: Adelidae) revealed by morphology, DNA barcodes and genome-wide ddRAD-seq data. Systematic Entomology