Landmark Data to Distinguish and Identify Morphologically Close Tabanus spp. (Diptera: Tabanidae)

spp., also known as horse flies (Diptera: Tabanidae), are important vectors of several animal pathogens. Adult females of and , which are members of the complex, are morphologically similar and hence difficult to distinguish using morphological characteristics. In addition, molecular identification...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2021-10, Vol.12 (11), p.974
Main Authors: Changbunjong, Tanasak, Prakaikowit, Nutnicha, Maneephan, Photchanun, Kaewwiset, Tipparat, Weluwanarak, Thekhawet, Chaiphongpachara, Tanawat, Dujardin, Jean-Pierre
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Digitization
Diptera
Discriminant analysis
Disease transmission
DNA
Females
Gene sequencing
geometric morphometrics
horse flies
Identification
Insects
Methods
Morphology
Parasites
Physical characteristics
Reference materials
Species
Sympatric populations
Tabanidae
Tabanus
Tabanus megalops
Tabanus rubidus
Tabanus striatus
Taxonomy
vector
Vectors
Venation
Wings
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Summary:spp., also known as horse flies (Diptera: Tabanidae), are important vectors of several animal pathogens. Adult females of and , which are members of the complex, are morphologically similar and hence difficult to distinguish using morphological characteristics. In addition, molecular identification by DNA barcoding is also unable to distinguish these species. These two species can occur sympatrically with , which is morphologically similar to and . Wing geometric morphometrics has been widely used in various insects to distinguish morphologically similar species. This study explored the effectiveness of landmark-based geometrics at distinguishing and identifying , , and in Thailand. Specimens were collected from different geographical regions of Thailand, and only unambiguously identified specimens were used for geometric morphometric analyses. Left wings of females of (n = 160), (n = 165), and (n = 85) were photographed, and 22 wing landmarks were used for the analysis. Wing shape was able to distinguish among species with high accuracy scores, ranging from 94.38% to 99.39%. We showed that morphologically very close species of can be reliably distinguished by the geometry of their wing venation, and we showed how our experimental material could be used as a reference to tentatively identify new field collected specimens.
ISSN:2075-4450
2075-4450
DOI:10.3390/insects12110974