A molecular based diversity assessment of Odonates through DNA barcoding

The present study depicts the first ever DNA barcoding study of Odonates from the State of Kerala, India. The northern part of the state, which corresponds to the western side of the western ghats, was the focus of the study. The study has been conducted as this region is blessed with ample annual rainfall brought on by the southwest monsoon, making it the ideal habitat for many Odonata species documented here. In total, of the 70 specimens collected, 37 cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences belonging to 31 species were deposited in the public repositories (NCBI and BOLD) for future reference. This report produced five new DNA barcodes consisting of two endemic species (Onychogomphus malabarensis and Agriocnemis keralensis), two Coenagrionidae members (Ceriagrion coromendelianum and Aciagrion occidentale), and one Libellulidae member (Lathrecista sp.) from Kerala, along with five novel reports from India. We also checked the inter-family relationships of the six dominant families and analyzed the monophyletic ancestry of the order Odonata. The study predicted monophyletic ancestry in both Zygopterans (damselflies) and Anisopterans (dragonflies) over the taxonomically nearer outgroup (Ephemeroptera) taken for the analysis. This also confirmed the inter-family relationship between these members of the suborders Anisoptera (Libellulidae, Gomphidae, and Aeshnidae) and Zygoptera (Coenagrionidae, Platycnemididae, and Calopterygidae). Thus, the cytochrome oxidase I gene nucleotide substitution analysis attributes neutral evolution to all species, irrespective of their geographical areas.