Molecular Weevil Identification Project: A thoroughly curated barcode release of 1300 Western Palearctic weevil species (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea)

By

Schütte, André
Stüben, Peter
Astrin, Jonas

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023-1-24

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

11

Pages

e96438--

Subjects

Apionidae , Canary Islands , Cryptorhynchinae , Curculionidae , DNA barcoding , Europe , integrative taxonomy , thresholds , Western Palearctic

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.11.e96438

 

Abstract

The Molecular Weevil Identification project (MWI) studies the systematics of Western Palearctic weevils (superfamily Curculionoidea) in an integrative taxonomic approach of DNA barcoding, morphology and ecology. This barcode release provides almost 3600 curated CO1 sequences linked to morphological vouchers in about 1300 weevil species. The dataset is presented in statistical distance tables and as a Neighbour-Joining tree. Bayesian Inference trees are computed for the subfamilies Cryptorhynchinae, Apioninae and Ceutorhynchinae. Altogether, 18 unresolved taxonomic issues are discussed. A new barcode primer set is presented. Finally, we establish group-specific genetic distances for many weevil genera to serve as a tool in species delineation. These values are statistically based on distances between 'good species' and their congeners. With this morphologically calibrated approach, we could resolve most alpha-taxonomic questions within the MWI project.