Insect Larvae Identification with Genetic Barcoding

Webber Creek in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, one of the habitat types where dance fly larvae are found.

Biological water quality monitoring programs, including the Central Alaska Network Stream Monitoring Program, rely on collecting and identifying samples of aquatic insects directly from streams and rivers, where most taxa are exclusively present as larvae. Although many common larvae can be identified to genus or species based on morphological characteristics, that is not always the case.

DNA barcoding (see Webb et al. 2022) can provide finer-scale taxonomic resolution. For example, in a recent study (Sinclair et al. 2022) we used DNA barcoding to identify a common but undescribed larval dance fly that was known only as “Genus B.” By comparing the DNA barcode sequences of these larvae with sequences in the Barcode of Life Database, we were able to show that they were genetically identical to adults known to be in a particular, although as yet unnamed, species in the genus Proclinopyga. We were then able to develop a taxonomic key for identification of the larval stage of this genus.

Confirmation and Description of the Larva of the Aquatic Dance Fly, Proclinopyga Melander (Diptera: Empididae: Clinocerinae)

Abstract

The larva of the aquatic dance fly genus Proclinopyga Melander is described for the first time. The larval association with adult stages was facilitated using COI mitochondrial DNA barcode sequences. The larvae of Proclinopyga are found in coarse substrates of riffles and other swift-flowing sections of streams and small rivers. The larvae infrequently occur in benthic samples collected from these habitat types, where they may co-occur with the larvae of other Empididae genera. The final instar larva is described and illustrated and a key to the larvae of genera of Clinocerinae of North America is updated.

Sinclair, B. J., T. Simmons, M. B. Cole, J. M. Webb, and S. Sullivan. 2022. Confirmation and description of the larva of the aquatic dance fly, Proclinopyga Melander (Diptera: Empididae: Clinocerinae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 123(4): 852-861.

DNA Barcoding Takes Bioassessment Further: New Distribution Records for Aquatic Macroinvertebrates from Alaskan National Parks

Abstract

DNA barcoding was applied to select macroinvertebrates from aquatic bioassessment samples collected from National Parks and Preserves in Alaska, USA. The finer taxonomic resolution provided by barcoding revealed the presence of 28 insect species previously unreported from Alaska; 21 of these are also new records for the USA, and 7 are new records for North America, excluding Greenland. The new records are distributed among Diptera: Ceratopogonidae (1), Chironomidae (20), Limoniidae (1), and Tipulidae (1); Ephemeroptera: Baetidae (2); and Trichoptera: Apataniidae (1), Goeridae (1), and Leptoceridae (1).

Webb, J. M., M. B. Cole, and T. Simmons. 2022. DNA Barcoding Takes Bioassessment Further: New Distribution Records for Aquatic Macroinvertebrates from Alaskan National Parks. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 124(1): 131-149.