DNA barcodes for the northern European tachinid flies (Diptera: Tachinidae)

Abstract

This data release provides COI barcodes for 366 species of parasitic flies (Diptera: Tachinidae), enabling the DNA based identification of the majority of northern European species and a large proportion of Palearctic genera, regardless of the developmental stage. The data will provide a tool for taxonomists and ecologists studying this ecologically important but challenging parasitoid family. A comparison of minimum distances between the nearest neighbors revealed the mean divergence of 5.52% that is approximately the same as observed earlier with comparable sampling in Lepidoptera, but clearly less than in Coleoptera. Full barcode-sharing was observed between 13 species pairs or triplets, equaling to 7.36% of all species. Delimitation based on Barcode Index Number (BIN) system was compared with traditional classification of species and interesting cases of possible species oversplits and cryptic diversity are discussed. Overall, DNA barcodes are effective in separating tachinid species and provide novel insight into the taxonomy of several genera.