Revision of Claraeola (Diptera, Pipunculidae) in the Middle East based on morphology and DNA barcodes

Behnam Motamedinia; Jeffrey H Skevington; Scott Kelso

doi:10.3897/zookeys.873.36645

Revision of Claraeola (Diptera, Pipunculidae) in the Middle East based on morphology and DNA barcodes

Zookeys. 2019 Aug 29:873:85-111. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.873.36645. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Behnam Motamedinia^{1

2}, Jeffrey H Skevington¹, Scott Kelso¹

Affiliations

¹ Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 960 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1A 0C6, Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Ottawa Canada.
² Plant Protection Research Department, South Khorasan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Birjand, Iran South Khorasan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center Birjand Iran.

Abstract

The Middle East species of Claraeola Aczél (Diptera, Pipunculidae) are revised based on morphological characteristics and sequence data from the mitochondrial COI barcoding gene, using a novel COI mini-barcode protocol. Four new Claraeola species are described: C. bousynterga Motamedinia & Skevington, sp. nov., C. heidiae Motamedinia & Skevington, sp. nov., C. khuzestanensis Motamedinia & Skevington, sp. nov., and C. mantisphalliga Motamedinia & Skevington, sp. nov. Eudorylas thekkadiensis Kapoor, Grewal & Sharma, 1987 is transferred to Claraeola, C. thekkadiensis (comb. nov.). Diagnoses, illustrations, an identification key, and a distributional map are given for the Middle East species.

Keywords: COI; DNA barcoding; big-headed flies; distribution map; identification key; mini barcode protocol.