DNA BARCODING OF FIRE ANTS AND THIEF ANTS (GENUS SOLENOPSIS) OF THE ECUADORIAN ANDES AS A TOOL FOR BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH SONET, G. (1), Nagy, Z. T. (1), Jacquemin, J. (2), Wauters, N. (2), Delsinne, T. (2), Leponce, M. (2) (1) Joint Experimental Molecular Unit, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels & Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium (2) Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences & Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Lightning Talk, Barcoding Insects 2, Napier 208, Friday, 15:00 to 15:07 Poster Location: B25 Members of the genus Solenopsis are among the most abundant ants in tropical rainforests. They are represented by more than 200 described species worldwide and some are dreadful invasive species. The identification to the species level is hampered by a dearth of diagnostic morphological characters and represents a serious limitative step in biodiversity inventories and in the study of invasive species. We set up and validated a DNA barcoding procedure to identify ants of the genus Solenopsis collected in the Podocarpus National Park of the Ecuadorian Andes. Complete specimens were used for DNA extraction and subsequently preserved as vouchers to allow further morphological analysis. More than 14 new molecular operational taxonomic units were identified by the standard DNA barcode fragment. In some cases specimens from a single morpho-species occurring at different altitudes could be distinguished. This study resulted in an appropriate laboratory protocol and a reference library useful to identify ants of the genus Solenopsis in the Ecuadorian Andes.
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