Another crack in the Dark Taxa wall: a custom DNA barcoding protocol for the species-rich and common Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea)

Abstract

DNA barcodes are a great tool for accelerated species identification and for complementing species delimitation. Furthermore, DNA barcode reference libraries are the decisive backbone feature for any metabarcoding study in biodiversity monitoring, conservation or ecology. However, in some taxa, DNA barcodes cannot be generated with published primers at a satisfying success rate and these groups will consequently be largely missing from any barcoding-based species list. Here, we provide a custom DNA barcoding forward primer for the Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea), elevating the success rate of high-quality DNA barcodes from 33% to 88%. Eurytomidae is a severely understudied, taxonomically challenging, species-rich group of primarily parasitoid wasps. High species numbers, diverse ecological roles and widespread and common presence identify Eurytomidae as one of many crucial families in terrestrial ecosystems. It is now possible to include Eurytomidae when studying and monitoring the terrestrial fauna, highlighting that barcoding-based approaches will need to routinely use different primers to avoid biases in their data and inferences. The new DNA barcoding protocol is also a prerequisite for our integrative taxonomy study of the group, aiming at delimiting and characterising Central European species and filling the GBOL (German Barcode Of Life) DNA barcode reference library with species-named and voucher-linked sequences.