DNA Barcoding a Collection of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Isla del Coco, Costa Rica

Authors

  • M. Alex Smith Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
  • W. Hallwachs Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6313
  • D. H. Janzen Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6313
  • Róger Blanco Segura Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Apdo. 169-5000, Liberia, Guanacaste

Keywords:

invasive, introduced, DNA barcodes, Wasmannia, tropical island ants

Abstract

Islands can be exceptionally sensitive to changes brought about by newly arrived species. Non-native ants on an island can cause catastrophic changes. Identifying these non-native species is taxonomically challenging because their geographic source is unknown. We DNA barcoded a 2011 collection of ants from Isla del Coco in the Pacific Ocean, about 500 km from the mainland of Costa Rica and Colombia. We compared these barcodes with those from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste in northwestern (coastal) Costa Rica, and with ant barcodes from elsewhere in the Neotropics. We found 10 species from 7 genera in 3 subfamilies.

 

Las islas pueden ser excepcionalmente sensibles a los cambios provocados por las especies recien llegadas. Hormigas no nativas en una isla pueden provocar cambios catastroficos. La identificacion de estas especies no nativas es taxonomicamente dificil porque su origen geografico es desconocido. Nosotros hicimos el codigo de barras ADN de una coleccion de hormigas del 2011, de la Isla del Coco en el Oceano Pacifico, a unos 500 kilometros de la parte continental de Costa Rica y Colombia. Se compararon estos codigos de barras con los de Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, en el noroeste (costa) Costa Rica, y con codigos de barras de hormiga en otros lugares del Neotropico. Encontramos diez especies en siete generos en tres.

 

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Published

2014-02-23

Issue

Vol. 96, No. 4 (December 2013)

Section

Research Papers

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