Molecular Taxonomic Identification of Predatory Ladybird Beetles Inferred from COI Sequences (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Pisit Poolprasert; Sinlapachai  Senarat; Sorasak Nak-eiam; Natdanai Likhitrakarn

Pisit Poolprasert Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University
Sinlapachai Senarat Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Sorasak Nak-eiam Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Rambhai Barni Rajabhat University, Chanthaburi, 22000, Thailand
Natdanai Likhitrakarn Division of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricultural Production, Maejo University, Chiang Mai, 50290, Thailand

Abstract

The Coccinellidae is a highly diversified family of the Coleoptera. Coccinellids are well recognized because of their use as biocontrol agents and they are the subject of many ecological studies. However, little is known concerning phylogenetic relationships of the Coccinellidae, and a precise evolutionary framework is still required for the family. In this study, therefore, we endeavoured to use molecular taxonomic identification on the Cocinellidae. We also provided the first phylogenetic reconstruction of the relationships within the Coccinellidae based on analysis of a 658-bp fragment of mitochondrial DNA from the 5’ region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. Afterwards, all obtained COI sequences were verified and compared to sequences previously deposited in Genbank using BLAST. It was discovered that they were similar to Coccinellidae with 99-100% identities. Eleven coccinellid species (10 genera) belonging to four subfamilies (Coccinellinae, Chilocorinae, Sticholotidinae and Scymninae) and relevant outgroup were reconstructed using the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) method with 1,000 bootstrap replicates. The recovered phylogeny was revealed that most of subfamilies (except Sticholotidinae) of Coccinellidae were reciprocally monophyletic and the threshold level of nucleotide divergence was 0.155% ± 0.008, suggesting that this DNA barcoding, when combined with bioinformatics, provided a reliable method for the taxonomic classification of coccinellid beetles in this time.

Author Biographies

Pisit Poolprasert, Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University

Lecturer in Biology Program, Faculty of Science and Technology, Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, Phitsanulok, 65000 Thailand

Sinlapachai Senarat , Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

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