Present address: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Geoffrey Pope Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK.
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Primers for identification of type and other archived specimens of Aphrodes leafhoppers (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae)
Article first published online: 1 APR 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03008.x
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Additional Information
How to Cite
BLUEMEL, J. K., ANDREW KING, R., VIRANT-DOBERLET, M. and SYMONDSON, W. O. C. (2011), Primers for identification of type and other archived specimens of Aphrodes leafhoppers (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae). Molecular Ecology Resources, 11: 770–774. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03008.x
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Present address: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Geoffrey Pope Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK.
Publication History
- Issue published online: 15 AUG 2011
- Article first published online: 1 APR 2011
- Received 7 December 2010; revision received 11 February 2011; accepted 17 February 2011
Keywords:
- cytochrome oxidase subunit I;
- molecular diagnostics;
- mtDNA;
- museum specimens;
- taxonomy
Abstract
Primers were developed for leafhoppers of the genus Aphrodes amplifying 84–244 bp fragments of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene. DNA was extracted from legs of over 100-year-old archived museum specimens, amplified and sequenced. The fragments contain sufficient variation to unequivocally identify the different species. The majority of the analysed museum specimens, including three specimens of the syntype series for the UK endemic species A. aestuarina (Edwards 1908), were found to have been assigned to the wrong species. This work clearly underlines the need to validate museum specimens using molecular methods where identity is in doubt, based on reliable standards for species discrimination.