Taxonomy is undergoing a revolution. New techniques like “DNA barcoding” are providing better understanding of species boundaries while online tools such as “Scratchpads” are helping connect this information with classical Linnaean taxonomy and rapidly disseminate findings to users. I present two case studies to demonstrate this revolution, one a butterfly, one a moth, both common species, both hiding under incorrect Linnaean names.
Extensive inventory of Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), Costa Rica, revealed evidence that butterflies inventoried as Taygetis andromeda for 25 years, belonged to a species complex. Further investigations revealed two species diagnosable by DNA barcodes and wing patterns, however, the name T. andromeda, could not be correctly applied to either species (http://taygetis.myspecies.info).
The ailanthus webworm moth, a conspicuous member of eastern North American micromoth assemblages, is commonly recorded as Atteva punctella. We discovered that webworm moths were assigned different names in our inventories – A. ergatica in ACG and A. punctella in North America -- but had identical DNA barcodes. Further investigations revealed two sympatric species diagnosable by DNA barcodes and wing patterns, however, neither name could be correctly applied to either species (http://atteva.myspecies.info).
About me
- johnjameswilson
- Liverpool, United Kingdom
- I am interested in how we can use DNA sequences to understand biodiversity – how do we recognise species, and how are species related at taxonomic, ecological and geographic levels? My passion for biodiversity research has led me from the world’s largest natural history collection - Natural History Museum, London, where I completed my MSc, to the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario - global centre for the international Barcode of Life, as a PhD student, and to the hyper-diverse tropics of Southeast Asia. The tropics will be the first regions to experience historically unprecedented climates and this will happen within the next decade. Consequently my recent research has focussed on understanding the effects of urbanisation and climate change on tropical and subtropical biodiversity - encompassing both species richness and ecological integrity across a diversity of taxonomic groups.
