Contribution of DNA barcoding to the study of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Canada: progress to date

Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Apiformes) are taxonomically and ecologically diverse, with a wide range of social complexity, nesting preferences, floral associations, and biogeographic restrictions. A Canadian bee checklist, greatly assisted by the gene-assisted approach of DNA barcoding, is nearing c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian entomologist 2017-12, Vol.149 (6), p.736-754
Main Authors: Sheffield, Cory S., Heron, Jennifer, Gibbs, Jason, Onuferko, Thomas M., Oram, Ryan, Best, Lincoln, deSilva, Nicholai, Dumesh, Sheila, Pindar, Alana, Rowe, Genevieve
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apidae
Apoidea
Arthropods
Bees
Biodiversity
Biology
Bombus
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA barcoding
Ecological monitoring
Ecological studies
Ecology
Entomology
Evaluation
Gene sequencing
Genera
Hymenoptera
Identification
Library collections
Lists
Museums
Nesting
Noctuoidea
Original Article
Plant reproduction
Pollinators
Science
Species
Taxa
Taxonomy
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Summary:Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Apiformes) are taxonomically and ecologically diverse, with a wide range of social complexity, nesting preferences, floral associations, and biogeographic restrictions. A Canadian bee checklist, greatly assisted by the gene-assisted approach of DNA barcoding, is nearing completion. Previous evaluation of bee diversity in Canada, assisted by DNA barcoding, was restricted to Nova Scotia, which contains about 25% of the bee species in the country. Here, we summarise efforts to date to build a comprehensive DNA barcode library supporting bee taxonomic studies in Canada, consisting of more than 12 500 barcode-compliant sequences yielding 811 distinct barcode index numbers (BINs). This appears to represent ~95% of the 856 bee species presently recorded from Canada, but comparison with known morphological species in each genus shows that some genera are still under-sampled or may contain cryptic taxa, with much taxonomic work still to be done on bees in Canada. This is particularly true within the taxonomically difficult genera Andrena Fabricius (Andrenidae), Hylaeus Fabricius (Colletidae), Melissodes Latreille (Apidae), Nomada Scopoli (Apidae), Osmia Panzer (Megachilidae), and Sphecodes Latreille (Halictidae). DNA analysis will likely be a key asset in resolving bee taxonomic issues in Canada in the future, and to date has even assisted studies of well-known bee taxa. Here we present summaries of our results, and discuss the use of DNA barcoding to assist future taxonomic work, faunal lists, and ecological studies.
ISSN:0008-347X
1918-3240
DOI:10.4039/tce.2017.49