Using COI Gene Sequence for Species Identification of Webspinners (Embioptera) in Thailand

Abstract

          The webspinners (Embioptera) is a smallish cosmopolitan order of an estimated 2,000 species, of which roughly 400 have been named. The most distinct autapomorphy is the silk spinning apparatus located in the front legs of all individuals. Approximately 90 genera have been grouped into 13 families. However, taxonomic knowledge of these insects is poorly developed in Thailand. Therefore, Thai embiids were selected for molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) in this study. The phylogenetic construction using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA) could separate all samples into two main clusters, the outgroup (order Mantodea) and the nine embiids which could be further subdivided into two groups. Group 1 represented the family Oligotomidae (Aposthonia borneensis, A. ceylonica, Lobosembia mandibulata, A. problita and Eosembia auripecta), while Group 2 represented the family Embiidae (Oedembia sp.) and Ptilocembiidae (Ptilocerembia spp.). Nucleotide diversity among embiid species was 0.226±0.016. The results indicated that COI mtDNA is a suitable method for rapid species identification.